How to Write Objectives | A Step-to-step Guide (2023)

How to Write Objectives | A Step-to-step Guide (2023)

Astrid Tran • 31 Aug 2023 • 6 min read

Objectives are needed for every aspect of life, work and education. 

Whether you are setting objectives for academic research, teaching and learning, courses and training, personal development, professional growth, a project, or more, having clear objectives like having a compass to help you stay on track.

So, how to write objectives? Check out this article to get a complete guide on writing realistic and impactful objectives.

Table of Contents

How to write objectives of a project

How to write objectives for a presentation, how to write objectives for lesson plan, how to write objectives for a research, how to write objectives for personal growth.

More tips on how to write objectives

Frequently Asked Questions

Project objectives often focus on tangible results, such as completing specific tasks, delivering products, or achieving certain milestones within a defined timeframe. 

Writing project objectives should follow these principles:

Start early : It is important to set your project objectives at the beginning of your project to avoid unexpected situations and employees misunderstanding. 

Changes : Project objectives can be determined to address challenges of previous projects experience and seek to minimize potential risks prior to the project begins.

Achievement : An objective of a project should mention what success is. Different success is measured by specific and measurable objectives. 

OKR : OKR stands for “objectives and key results,” a managerial model that aims to set goals and identify metrics to measure progress. Objectives are your destination, while key results contribute to the path that will get you there. 

Focus : Different project objectives might consist of related issues such as:

  • Customer satisfaction
  • Turnover and Retention
  • Sales and Revenue
  • Return on investment (ROI)
  • Sustainability
  • Productivity

For example : 

  • The goal of the campaign is to improve the traffic by 15% before the end of the first quarter. 
  • This project aims to produce 5,000 units of products in the next three months.
  • Add five new methods for clients to seek the feedback form in-product within the next three months.
  • Increase click through rate (CTR) engagement on email by 20% by the end of the second quarter.

Words and Phrased to avoid when writing learning objectives for students

Presentation objectives outline what you intend to accomplish with your presentation, which might involve informing, persuading, educating, or inspiring your audience. They guide the content creation process and shape how you engage your listeners during the presentation.

When it comes to writing presentation objectives, there are some notes to look at:

The questions “Why” : To write a good presentation objective, start with answering why questions, such as Why is this presentation important to your audience? Why should people invest time and money to attend this presentation? Why is your content important to the organization?

What do you want the audience to know, feel and do ? Another important of writing objectives for a presentation is considering the comprehensive impact your presentation has on the audience. This pertains to the informational, emotional, and actionable aspect.

Rule of three : When you write your objectives in your PPT, don’t forget to express no more than three key points per slide. 

Some examples of objectives: 

  • Ensure the managers understand that without additional funding of $10,000, the project will fail.
  • Get commitment from the director of sales to a three-tier pricing proposal for customer Prime.
  • Get the audience to commit to reducing their personal plastic usage by signing a pledge to avoid single-use plastics for at least a week.
  • Participants will feel empowered and confident about managing their finances, replacing financial anxiety with a sense of control and informed decision-making.

Alternative Text

Get your Students Engaged

Start meaningful discussion, get useful feedback and educate your students. Sign up to take free AhaSlides template

Learning objectives, often used in education and training, specify what learners are expected to gain from a learning experience. These objectives are written to guide curriculum development, instructional design, and assessment.

A guide on writing an objective for learning and lesson plan described as follows:

Learning objectives verbs : There is no better way to have learning objectives start with measurable verbs collected by Benjamin Bloom based on level of cognition.

  • Knowledge level: tell, uncover, show, state, define, name, write, recall,…
  • Comprehension level: indicate, illustrate, represent, formulate, explain, classify, translate,…
  • Application level: perform, make a chart, put into action, build, report, employ, draw, adapt, apply,…
  • Analysis Level: analyze, study, combine, separate, categorize, detect, examine,…
  • Synthesis Level: integrate, conclude, adapt, compose, construct, create, design,…
  • Evaluation Level: evaluate, interpret, decide, solve, rate, appraise, verify,…

Student-centered : Objectives should reflect the unique aspirations, strengths and weaknesses of each student, emphasize what students will know or be able to do, not what you will teach or cover. 

Learning Objective Examples:

  • To recognize the power of different types of language
  • By the end of this course, students will be able to identify and develop data collection instruments and measures for planning and conducting sociological research.
  • By the end of this course, students will be able to identify their own position on the political spectrum.

Blooms-Taxonomy learning objectives verbs

The purpose of research objectives is congruent with research study outcomes.They articulate the purpose of the research, what the researcher intends to investigate, and the expected outcomes.

There are severals principles to follow to ensure a well-written research objectives:

Academic language : It is important to note that research writing is strict on the use of language. It is held to a high standard of clarity, precision, and formality.

Avoid using first-person references to state the objectives. Replace “I will” with neutral phrasing that emphasizes the research’s intention. Avoid emotional language, personal opinions, or subjective judgments.

Pinpoint the Focus : Your research objectives should clearly articulate what your study aims to investigate, analyze, or uncover.

Specify the Scope : Outline the boundaries of your research by specifying the scope. Clearly delineate what aspects or variables will be examined, and what will not be addressed.

Maintain Consistency with Research Questions : Ensure your research objectives align with your research questions.

Frequently used phrases in research objectives

  • …contribute to the knowledge of…
  • …search for…
  • Our study will also document….
  • The primary objective is to integrate…
  • The purposes of this research include:
  • We attempt to…
  • We formulated these objective based on
  • This study searches for
  • The second gold is to test

how to write assignment objectives

Objectives for personal growth often focus on individual improvement on skills, knowledge, well-being, and overall development.

Personal growth objectives encompass various aspects of life, including emotional, intellectual, physical, and interpersonal dimensions. They serve as roadmaps for continuous learning, growth, and self-awareness.

  • Read one non-fiction book each month to expand knowledge in areas of personal interest.
  • Incorporate regular exercise into the routine by walking or jogging for at least 30 minutes five times a week.

Tips to write objectives for personal growth from AhaSlides.

💡 Development Goals For Work: A Step-By-Step Guide For Beginners with Examples

💡 What is Personal Growth? Set Up Personal Goals For Work | Updated in 2023

💡 Work Goals Examples For Evaluation with +5 Steps To Create in 2023

How to write objectives in general? Here are common tips for setting objectives of any field.

 how to write objectives

#1. Be concise and straightforward

Keep the words as simple and straightforward as much as possible. It is much better to remove unnecessary or ambiguous words that might lead to misunderstanding.

#2. Keep your number of objectives limited

Don’t confuse your learners or readers with too many objectives. Concentrating on a few key objectives can effectively maintain focus and clarity and prevent overwhelming. 

#3. Use action verbs

You can start each objective with one of the following measurable verbs: Describe, Explain, Identify, Discuss, Compare, Define, Differentiate, List, and more.

#4. Be SMART

SMART objectives framework can be defined with specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. These objectives are clearer and easier to understand and achieve.

⭐ Want more inspiration? Check out AhaSlides to explore the innovative way to get presentations and lesson engaging and fun!

What are the 3 parts of an objective?

According to Mager (1997), objective statements contain three parts: behavior (or, performance), conditions, and criteria.

What are the 4 elements of a well-written objective?

The four elements of an objective are Audience, Behavior, Condition, and Degree, called A-B-C-D method. They are used to identify what a student is expected to know and how to test them.

What are the 4 components of objective writing?

There are four components of an objective include: (1) the action verb, (2) conditions, (3) standard, and (4) the intended audience (always the students)

Ref: Indeed | Batchwood | 

' src=

Astrid Tran

I've got my rhythm with words

More from AhaSlides

Tourism and Hospitality Management | A Complete Guide to Discover Exciting Career Paths in 2023

Go to Charlotte.edu

Prospective Students

  • About UNC Charlotte
  • Campus Life
  • Graduate Admissions

Faculty and Staff

  • Human Resources
  • Auxiliary Services
  • Inside UNC Charlotte
  • Academic Affairs

Current Students

  • Financial Aid
  • Student Health

Alumni and Friends

  • Alumni Association
  • Advancement
  • Make a Gift

Writing Measurable Course Objectives

What is a course objective.

A course objective specifies a behavior, skill, or action that a student can demonstrate if they have achieved mastery of the objective. As such, objectives need to be written in such a way that they are measurable by some sort of assessment. Course objectives form the foundation of the class. Everything in the course should work together to ensure students master the course objectives.

What do good course objectives look like?

Good course objectives will be specific , measurable , and written from the learner’s perspective . Here’s a good formula for writing objectives:

Start your course objectives with: By the end of the course, students will be able to:

Choose an action verb that corresponds to the specific action you wish students to demonstrate

Explain the knowledge students are expected to acquire or construct

[Optional]: explain the criterion or level students are expected to reach to show mastery of knowledge

You will also want to make sure that you have thought of a way to assess students’ learned knowledge when writing course objectives. For example, if you always test students’ knowledge of content matter with a multiple choice test, the course objectives cannot ask that students evaluate or create something, as multiple choice tests cannot assess those levels of learning with a high level of accuracy.

This fill in the blank example can help put this into context for your own subject matter: If students have learned [knowledge/subject of the course], then the should be able to [specific action students can do if they know the content] by completing [assessment/proof of knowledge]. Example: If students have learned US History since 1865, then they should be able to explain the effect of immigration on American culture by completing an essay comparing and contrasting the effect of two immigrant populations on American culture from 1865-1900.

If you cannot logically fill in the last blank of this example (assessment), then the objective is not measurable. You won’t include the assessment in the text for your actual course objective that you publish on your syllabus, but you need to know if what you’re asking students to know can be assessed. Otherwise, how can you know or prove that students have learned what they’re supposed to learn in your course?

Difference between Objectives and Assessments:

One thing that can be confusing when creating course objectives is the difference between what students are being asked to know and the assessment that is used to “prove” that students know the information. In the example above, it may be tempting to write something like this: If students have learned U.S. History since 1865, then they should be able to write an essay comparing and contrasting the effect of two immigrant populations on American culture from 1865-1900.

This objective seems measurable, but it’s saying that by the end of the class “students should be able to write an essay”. That makes it sound like one of the objectives of the course is for students to write an essay. What students really need to know though is the effect of immigration on American culture. If you use the assessment in the “course objective slot,” the knowledge students need in order to complete the assessment is assumed rather than explicitly stated.

This could cause issues with the creation of materials and activities in your units because the focus may be on teaching students how to write essays rather than teaching them about the effect of immigration on American culture during a specific time period.

Bloom’s Taxonomy:

Using a taxonomy that explains different levels of learning can be helpful for selecting the appropriate action verbs for your course objectives. These will help prevent you from choosing lower order actions when you really want students to demonstrate higher order thinking.

Bloom’s Taxonomy is broken into six knowledge dimensions: Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating, and Creating and range from lower order thinking skills to higher order thinking skills.

By their very nature, higher order thinking skills are more difficult and build on the previous lower order thinking skills. An oversimplified explanation of this would be the following: A student can not be expected to create a design brief (Creating) if they can’t remember what a design brief is (Remembering).

Traditionally, entry level courses ask students to demonstrate remembering, understanding, and applying thinking skills with a few higher order thinking skills while graduate level courses ask students to demonstrate analyzing, evaluating, and creating thinking skills with a few lower order thinking skills.

blooms.PNG

How do course objectives differ from module objectives?

Course objectives are much broader in scope than module level objectives. Where module objectives break down skills and knowledge into very specific, discrete skills, course objectives point more to overarching student understanding and higher level thinking skills. In a unit, you may have 10 or more objectives explaining all of the steps/tasks involved in learning a concept. For a course, you will only want 3-6 course objectives.

Writing Course Goals/Learning Outcomes and Learning Objectives

The goal is where we want to be. The objectives are the steps needed to get there. As seen in this flow chart, the outcome and the learning objectives connect you with (and among) your students, the course content, assignments, and your teaching approach.

Consider including this type of flowchart, specific to your course, in the course syllabus to help students see the connections between course assignments and learning outcomes.

Example Learning Objectives

Upon completion of the unit on plant growth and development students will be able to:

  • List the five most common plant growth hormones
  • Describe the relationship between carbon dioxide level and photosynthesis
  • Illustrate the transpiration stream in a corn plant

It is easy to measure each of the objectives.

Either the student has or has not accomplished each one. These measurable objectives can then be used as the basis for your grading or another type of student assessment. For example, based on the first learning objective above, if a student is able to list all 5 plant hormones they earn 100% for the assignment if they can only list 4 plant hormones they earn 90%, and so on.

Bloom’s Taxonomy as a Framework for Writing Learning Objectives

Developing a basic understanding of Bloom’s Taxonomy (Bloom et al., 1956) is a good place to start as you begin writing learning objectives.

Bloom’s Taxonomy in a nutshell: In the late 1940s a group of educators began classifying educational goals and objectives. The intent was to develop a classification system for three domains: the cognitive (mental skills or knowledge), the affective (feelings and emotional skills or attitude), and the psychomotor (manual or physical skills). The work that resulted in the cognitive domain was completed in 1956 and is commonly referred to as Bloom’s Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain ( Bloom et al., 1956).

The major concept of the taxonomy is that educational objectives can be arranged in a hierarchy that moves from less to more complex levels of knowledge. The levels are successive; one level must be mastered before the next level can be reached.

The original levels published by Bloom et al. (1956) were ordered as follows:  Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation.

In 2001 Anderson and Krathwohl published a  revised version of Bloom’s Taxonomy  that reflected what has been learned in the forty or so years since it was first published. In summary, the changes reflect more outcome-focused modern education objectives and include switching the names of the levels from nouns to active verbs. The two highest levels have also been changed with the pinnacle level now being ‘create’.  The revised levels are: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate and Create. View CELT’s Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy page.

Applying Bloom’s Taxonomy to Learning Objectives

Effective learning objectives need to be observable and/or measurable, and using action verbs is a way to achieve this. Verbs such as “identify”, “argue,” or “construct” are more measurable than vague or passive verbs such as “understand” or  “be aware of”. As you design your course focus on creating clear learning objectives and then use these objectives to guide class assignments, exams, and overall course assessment questions.

Action Verbs

Below are examples of action verbs associated with each level of the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. These are useful in writing learning objectives, assignment objectives, and exam questions.

Choose Describe Define Label List Locate Match Memorize Name Omit Recite Select State Count Draw Outline Point Quote Recall Recognize Repeat Reproduce

Classify Defend Demonstrate Distinguish Explain Express Extend Give Examples Illustrate Indicate Interrelate Interpret Infer Match Paraphrase Represent Restate Rewrite Select Show Summarize Tell Translate Associate Compute Convert Discuss Estimate Extrapolate Generalize Predict

Choose Dramatize Explain Generalize Judge Organize Paint Prepare Produce Select Show Sketch Solve Use Add Calculate Change Classify Complete Compute Discover Divide Examine Graph Interpolate Manipulate Modify Operate Subtract

Categorize Classify Compare Differentiate Distinguish Identify Infer Point out Select Subdivide Survey Arrange Breakdown Combine Detect Diagram Discriminate Illustrate Outline Point out Separate

Appraise Judge Criticize Defend Compare Assess Conclude Contrast Critique Determine Grade Justify Measure Rank Rate Support Test

Combine Compose Construct Design Develop Formulate Hypothesize Invent Make Originate Organize Plan Produce Role Play Drive Devise Generate Integrate Prescribe Propose Reconstruct Revise Rewrite Transform

View the  interactive model of learning objectives  which shows the relationship between the knowledge dimension and the cognitive process dimension .

Download and review Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy on this website

Content on sample learning objectives adapted from: Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology, Washington State University (2013).

Anderson, L.W., & Krathwohl (Eds.). (2001).  A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives . Longman.

Bloom, B., Englehart, M. Furst, E., Hill, W., & Krathwohl, D. (1956).  Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Handbook I: Cognitive domain . Longmans, Green.

Berkeley Graduate Division

  • Basics for GSIs
  • Advancing Your Skills

Creating Writing Assignments: Taxonomy of Learning Objectives

Bloom et al.’s (1956) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives for the Cognitive Domain (with Outcome-Illustrating Verbs)*

Designing Assignments: Exercise in Assignment Design Using Bloom’s Taxonomy (doc)

Remembering (recalling) appropriate, previously learned information, such as terminology or specific facts.

Verbs to use in assignments to have students demonstrate knowledge: define; describe; enumerate; identify; label; list; match; name; read; record; reproduce; select; state; view.

Example : Ask your students to do a free-write in class, in which they identify three causes of the Civil War, or define Progressivism. Use their responses as a starting point for discussion or have the students discuss their responses in small groups.

Comprehension

Understanding the meaning of informational materials.

Verbs to use in assignments to have students demonstrate comprehension: classify; cite; convert; describe; discuss; estimate; explain; generalize; give examples; make sense of; paraphrase; restate (in own words); summarize; trace; understand.

Example : Ask your students to paraphrase an author’s argument, or a part of their lecture notes, in one paragraph. Then divide the students into pairs and ask the students to discuss any gaps or discrepancies in their comprehension and to construct a new and better paragraph together.

Application

Using previously learned information in new and concrete situations to solve problems that have single or best answers.

Verbs to use in assignments so that students can demonstrate their ability to apply: act; administer; articulate; assess; chart; collect; compute; construct; contribute; control; determine; develop; discover; establish; extend; implement; include; inform; instruct; operationalize; participate; predict; prepare; preserve; produce; project; provide; relate; report; show; solve; teach; transfer; use; utilize.

Example : Ask students to relate classroom instruction on the immigrant experience in the United States to primary sources which you provide (or which they collect on their own). Ask the students to use the primary sources to teach a course theme to their peers or have them report their observations on a threaded discussion list.

Breaking down informational materials into their component parts, examining (and trying to understand the organizational structure of) such information to develop divergent conclusions by identifying motives or causes, making inferences, and/or finding evidence to support generalizations.

Verbs to use in assignments so that students can demonstrate their ability to analyze: break down; correlate; diagram; differentiate; discriminate; distinguish; focus; illustrate; infer; limit; outline; point out; prioritize; recognize; separate; subdivide.

Example : In an exam essay question, students may be asked to analyze the reasons for European settlement in the “New World.” Beyond simply identifying the reasons, they are asked to prioritize the reasons in order of significance and to distinguish between the reasons for settlement in New England vs. Virginia.

Creatively or divergently applying prior knowledge and skills to produce a new or original whole.

Verbs to use in assignments so that students can demonstrate their ability to synthesize: adapt; anticipate; categorize; collaborate; combine; communicate; compare; compile; compose; contrast; create; design; devise; express; facilitate; formulate; generate; incorporate; individualize; initiate; integrate; intervene; model; modify; negotiate; plan; progress; rearrange; reconstruct; reinforce; reorganize; revise; structure; substitute; validate.

Example : In preparation for a research paper, students may be asked to create a prospectus, in which they formulate a hypothesis, compile a bibliography, and plan a research schedule.

Judging the value of material based on personal values or opinions, resulting in an end product, with a given purpose, without real right or wrong answers.

Verbs to use in assignments so that students can demonstrate their ability to evaluate: appraise; compare and contrast; conclude; criticize; critique; decide; defend; interpret; judge; justify; reframe; support.

Example : Have students write a five-page essay in which they compare and contrast two authors’ arguments on a given topic, evaluate their use of evidence, and defend one interpretation over the other.

*Lorin Anderson, David Krathwohl, et al. published a revision of the taxonomy in 2000: A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives . New York: Longman.

  • Sign Up for Mailing List
  • Search Search

Username or Email Address

Remember Me

MIT Comparative Media Studies/Writing

Resources for Teachers: Creating Writing Assignments

This page contains four specific areas:

Creating Effective Assignments

Checking the assignment, sequencing writing assignments, selecting an effective writing assignment format.

Research has shown that the more detailed a writing assignment is, the better the student papers are in response to that assignment. Instructors can often help students write more effective papers by giving students written instructions about that assignment. Explicit descriptions of assignments on the syllabus or on an “assignment sheet” tend to produce the best results. These instructions might make explicit the process or steps necessary to complete the assignment. Assignment sheets should detail:

  • the kind of writing expected
  • the scope of acceptable subject matter
  • the length requirements
  • formatting requirements
  • documentation format
  • the amount and type of research expected (if any)
  • the writer’s role
  • deadlines for the first draft and its revision

Providing questions or needed data in the assignment helps students get started. For instance, some questions can suggest a mode of organization to the students. Other questions might suggest a procedure to follow. The questions posed should require that students assert a thesis.

The following areas should help you create effective writing assignments.

Examining your goals for the assignment

  • How exactly does this assignment fit with the objectives of your course?
  • Should this assignment relate only to the class and the texts for the class, or should it also relate to the world beyond the classroom?
  • What do you want the students to learn or experience from this writing assignment?
  • Should this assignment be an individual or a collaborative effort?
  • What do you want students to show you in this assignment? To demonstrate mastery of concepts or texts? To demonstrate logical and critical thinking? To develop an original idea? To learn and demonstrate the procedures, practices, and tools of your field of study?

Defining the writing task

  • Is the assignment sequenced so that students: (1) write a draft, (2) receive feedback (from you, fellow students, or staff members at the Writing and Communication Center), and (3) then revise it? Such a procedure has been proven to accomplish at least two goals: it improves the student’s writing and it discourages plagiarism.
  • Does the assignment include so many sub-questions that students will be confused about the major issue they should examine? Can you give more guidance about what the paper’s main focus should be? Can you reduce the number of sub-questions?
  • What is the purpose of the assignment (e.g., review knowledge already learned, find additional information, synthesize research, examine a new hypothesis)? Making the purpose(s) of the assignment explicit helps students write the kind of paper you want.
  • What is the required form (e.g., expository essay, lab report, memo, business report)?
  • What mode is required for the assignment (e.g., description, narration, analysis, persuasion, a combination of two or more of these)?

Defining the audience for the paper

  • Can you define a hypothetical audience to help students determine which concepts to define and explain? When students write only to the instructor, they may assume that little, if anything, requires explanation. Defining the whole class as the intended audience will clarify this issue for students.
  • What is the probable attitude of the intended readers toward the topic itself? Toward the student writer’s thesis? Toward the student writer?
  • What is the probable educational and economic background of the intended readers?

Defining the writer’s role

  • Can you make explicit what persona you wish the students to assume? For example, a very effective role for student writers is that of a “professional in training” who uses the assumptions, the perspective, and the conceptual tools of the discipline.

Defining your evaluative criteria

1. If possible, explain the relative weight in grading assigned to the quality of writing and the assignment’s content:

  • depth of coverage
  • organization
  • critical thinking
  • original thinking
  • use of research
  • logical demonstration
  • appropriate mode of structure and analysis (e.g., comparison, argument)
  • correct use of sources
  • grammar and mechanics
  • professional tone
  • correct use of course-specific concepts and terms.

Here’s a checklist for writing assignments:

  • Have you used explicit command words in your instructions (e.g., “compare and contrast” and “explain” are more explicit than “explore” or “consider”)? The more explicit the command words, the better chance the students will write the type of paper you wish.
  • Does the assignment suggest a topic, thesis, and format? Should it?
  • Have you told students the kind of audience they are addressing — the level of knowledge they can assume the readers have and your particular preferences (e.g., “avoid slang, use the first-person sparingly”)?
  • If the assignment has several stages of completion, have you made the various deadlines clear? Is your policy on due dates clear?
  • Have you presented the assignment in a manageable form? For instance, a 5-page assignment sheet for a 1-page paper may overwhelm students. Similarly, a 1-sentence assignment for a 25-page paper may offer insufficient guidance.

There are several benefits of sequencing writing assignments:

  • Sequencing provides a sense of coherence for the course.
  • This approach helps students see progress and purpose in their work rather than seeing the writing assignments as separate exercises.
  • It encourages complexity through sustained attention, revision, and consideration of multiple perspectives.
  • If you have only one large paper due near the end of the course, you might create a sequence of smaller assignments leading up to and providing a foundation for that larger paper (e.g., proposal of the topic, an annotated bibliography, a progress report, a summary of the paper’s key argument, a first draft of the paper itself). This approach allows you to give students guidance and also discourages plagiarism.
  • It mirrors the approach to written work in many professions.

The concept of sequencing writing assignments also allows for a wide range of options in creating the assignment. It is often beneficial to have students submit the components suggested below to your course’s STELLAR web site.

Use the writing process itself. In its simplest form, “sequencing an assignment” can mean establishing some sort of “official” check of the prewriting and drafting steps in the writing process. This step guarantees that students will not write the whole paper in one sitting and also gives students more time to let their ideas develop. This check might be something as informal as having students work on their prewriting or draft for a few minutes at the end of class. Or it might be something more formal such as collecting the prewriting and giving a few suggestions and comments.

Have students submit drafts. You might ask students to submit a first draft in order to receive your quick responses to its content, or have them submit written questions about the content and scope of their projects after they have completed their first draft.

Establish small groups. Set up small writing groups of three-five students from the class. Allow them to meet for a few minutes in class or have them arrange a meeting outside of class to comment constructively on each other’s drafts. The students do not need to be writing on the same topic.

Require consultations. Have students consult with someone in the Writing and Communication Center about their prewriting and/or drafts. The Center has yellow forms that we can give to students to inform you that such a visit was made.

Explore a subject in increasingly complex ways. A series of reading and writing assignments may be linked by the same subject matter or topic. Students encounter new perspectives and competing ideas with each new reading, and thus must evaluate and balance various views and adopt a position that considers the various points of view.

Change modes of discourse. In this approach, students’ assignments move from less complex to more complex modes of discourse (e.g., from expressive to analytic to argumentative; or from lab report to position paper to research article).

Change audiences. In this approach, students create drafts for different audiences, moving from personal to public (e.g., from self-reflection to an audience of peers to an audience of specialists). Each change would require different tasks and more extensive knowledge.

Change perspective through time. In this approach, students might write a statement of their understanding of a subject or issue at the beginning of a course and then return at the end of the semester to write an analysis of that original stance in the light of the experiences and knowledge gained in the course.

Use a natural sequence. A different approach to sequencing is to create a series of assignments culminating in a final writing project. In scientific and technical writing, for example, students could write a proposal requesting approval of a particular topic. The next assignment might be a progress report (or a series of progress reports), and the final assignment could be the report or document itself. For humanities and social science courses, students might write a proposal requesting approval of a particular topic, then hand in an annotated bibliography, and then a draft, and then the final version of the paper.

Have students submit sections. A variation of the previous approach is to have students submit various sections of their final document throughout the semester (e.g., their bibliography, review of the literature, methods section).

In addition to the standard essay and report formats, several other formats exist that might give students a different slant on the course material or allow them to use slightly different writing skills. Here are some suggestions:

Journals. Journals have become a popular format in recent years for courses that require some writing. In-class journal entries can spark discussions and reveal gaps in students’ understanding of the material. Having students write an in-class entry summarizing the material covered that day can aid the learning process and also reveal concepts that require more elaboration. Out-of-class entries involve short summaries or analyses of texts, or are a testing ground for ideas for student papers and reports. Although journals may seem to add a huge burden for instructors to correct, in fact many instructors either spot-check journals (looking at a few particular key entries) or grade them based on the number of entries completed. Journals are usually not graded for their prose style. STELLAR forums work well for out-of-class entries.

Letters. Students can define and defend a position on an issue in a letter written to someone in authority. They can also explain a concept or a process to someone in need of that particular information. They can write a letter to a friend explaining their concerns about an upcoming paper assignment or explaining their ideas for an upcoming paper assignment. If you wish to add a creative element to the writing assignment, you might have students adopt the persona of an important person discussed in your course (e.g., an historical figure) and write a letter explaining his/her actions, process, or theory to an interested person (e.g., “pretend that you are John Wilkes Booth and write a letter to the Congress justifying your assassination of Abraham Lincoln,” or “pretend you are Henry VIII writing to Thomas More explaining your break from the Catholic Church”).

Editorials . Students can define and defend a position on a controversial issue in the format of an editorial for the campus or local newspaper or for a national journal.

Cases . Students might create a case study particular to the course’s subject matter.

Position Papers . Students can define and defend a position, perhaps as a preliminary step in the creation of a formal research paper or essay.

Imitation of a Text . Students can create a new document “in the style of” a particular writer (e.g., “Create a government document the way Woody Allen might write it” or “Write your own ‘Modest Proposal’ about a modern issue”).

Instruction Manuals . Students write a step-by-step explanation of a process.

Dialogues . Students create a dialogue between two major figures studied in which they not only reveal those people’s theories or thoughts but also explore areas of possible disagreement (e.g., “Write a dialogue between Claude Monet and Jackson Pollock about the nature and uses of art”).

Collaborative projects . Students work together to create such works as reports, questions, and critiques.

U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

  • Publications
  • Account settings
  • Advanced Search
  • Journal List
  • J Educ Perioper Med
  • v.19(4); Oct-Dec 2017

How to Write Well-Defined Learning Objectives

Writing effective learning objectives is a necessary skill in academic medicine. Learning objectives are clearly written, specific statements of observable learner behavior or action that can be measured upon completion of an educational activity. They are the foundation for instructional alignment whereby the learning objectives, assessment tools, and instructional methods mutually support the desired learning outcome. This review article describes the essential components of a learning objective and provides practical tips on writing well-defined learning objectives.

Introduction

An anesthesiologist starts his grand rounds presentation on the topic of malignant hyperthermia (MH) with the following learning objectives:

  • Understand the pathophysiology of MH.
  • Review the clinical presentation of MH.
  • Discuss the treatment of MH.
  • Become familiar with caffeine-halothane contracture testing for MH.

This list informs the attendees about the topics covered during the presentation. However, do they know what is expected of them when they apply this content in their own clinical practice?

We have all seen learning “objectives” mentioned, such as the ones above, at the beginning of a presentation or workshop. But is what we see actually a learning objective ? Learning objectives are often confused with learning goals; the example above is such a case in point. Learning goals are related to—but different from—learning objectives. A learning goal is a broad statement of an expected learning outcome of a course or curriculum. Learning goals provide a vision for the future and often summarize the intention or topic area of several related learning objectives. Learning objectives are drawn from the learning goals. They are guiding statements for each learning encounter, and they connect intention with reality within the learning experience as well as to the assessment planned. In keeping with the Roman philosopher Lucius Seneca, who said, “If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable,” this review article describes the essential components of learning objectives and provides practical tips on writing well-defined learning objectives.

Defining “Learning Objective”

A learning objective is a description of what the learner must be able to do upon completion of an educational activity. A well-written learning objective outlines the knowledge, skills and/or attitude the learners will gain from the educational activity and does so in a measurable way.

An effective learning objective should include the following 5 elements: who, will do, how much or how well, of what, by when. 1 The mnemonic SMART—Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound—can be used to describe the elements of a well-written learning objective. 2 One example of a SMART objective for an airway conference is: “Upon completion of the difficult airway workshop, participants should be able to formulate an accurate algorithm for the management of an obese adult patient with inadequate face mask ventilation, according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists difficult airway algorithm.”

Practical tips for writing learning objectives are summarized in Table 1 . Since the point of a learning objective is to describe the intended outcome for learning, begin the learning objective with: “Upon completion of this educational activity, learners should be able to . . . .” The next step is to identify the concepts the learners need to learn and how they will demonstrate their understanding. It is recommended that the instructor choose one action verb that is measurable and observable. Verbs such as understand , know , learn , appreciate , believe , be familiar with , comprehend , and so on, are not observable or measurable and should be avoided. Each learning objective must be separate; two actions (such as diagnosis and management ) or topics (such as bronchospasm and hypotension ) must not be combined. It is also important that the action verb identify the level and cognitive domain at which the learner is expected to perform. Bloom's Taxonomy connects the depth of learning with action verbs that may be used when writing learning objectives.

Practical tips for writing effective learning objectives.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is i2333-0406-19-4-1a-t01.jpg

Blooms' Taxonomy and Action Verbs

When writing learning objectives, educators leverage Bloom's Taxonomy 3 ( Table 2 ). Bloom's Taxonomy describes 6 levels of hierarchy in the cognitive domain: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. This taxonomy was revised in 2001 4 ( Figure 1 ). Each level of the hierarchy correlates to action verbs that educators use within learning objectives. To help anesthesia educators apply Bloom's Taxonomy more readily to their own learning, we will briefly review what each level of the hierarchy means to learning.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is i2333-0406-19-4-1a-f01.jpg

Original and revised versions of Bloom's Taxonomy (Reprinted with permission from Wilson LO. http://thesecondprinciple.com )

Revised Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Objectives

(Adapted from http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/medicalschool/education/degree_programs/MDProgram/administration/curriculumoffice/Documents/CUSOM_Learning-Objectives-Guidelines.pdf )

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is i2333-0406-19-4-1a-t02.jpg

Knowledge “involves the recall of specifics and universals, the recall of methods and processes, or the recall of a pattern, structure, or setting.” 3 This category appreciates and distinguishes factual knowledge, conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge, and metacognitive knowledge as separate elements of “knowledge.” In anesthesia teaching, we frequently use the first 3 types. For example, we provide factual knowledge (eg, lecture to undergraduate medical learners), procedural knowledge (eg, teaching in simulation or during an operation), and conceptual knowledge (eg, case-based learning, principles of anesthesia). Metacognitive knowledge is often applicable when giving feedback to learners; for example, when helping learners understand their competency in communication with patients and families.

Comprehension “refers to a type of understanding or apprehension such that the individual knows what is being communicated and can make use of the material or idea being communicated without necessarily relating it to other material or seeing its fullest implications.” 3 Application refers to the “use of abstractions in particular and concrete situations.” 3 Analysis represents the “breakdown of a communication into its constituent elements or parts such that relative hierarchy of ideas is made clear and/or the relations between ideas expressed are made explicit.” 3 Synthesis involves “putting together of elements and parts so as to form a whole,” 3 and evaluation includes “judgments about the value of material and methods for given purposes.” 3

All educators should make the important connection between the intended learning depth (eg, comprehension) and the action verbs that reflect that intended learning outcome within the learning objective. Action verbs guide the learner about the intended outcome; for example, “critically appraise the evidence related to rapid sequence induction for airway management in pregnant patients.”

Incorporating Bloom's Taxonomy and SMART for Effective Learning Objectives

Both Bloom's Taxonomy and SMART are necessary for writing effective learning objectives that communicate the intention for the learner with the intended learning outcomes. Examples of weak learning objectives and suggestions for better wording, based on incorporating Bloom's Taxonomy and SMART, are listed in Table 3 .

Examples of weak learning objectives and suggestions for SMARTer learning objectives. All of the learning objectives are written for an hour-long grand rounds presentation and begin with “Upon completion of the grand rounds presentation, participants should be able to:”

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is i2333-0406-19-4-1a-t03.jpg

When faculty are leading sessions on writing SMART objectives, the authors often hear participants challenge that SMART objectives are longer and very detailed—consequently, will learners even follow them? The counterargument is that any objective worded too broadly, with no measurable standard that is attainable and repeatable for the learner in the given time frame, leads to confusion about “what to study” or “what performance is expected.” The value in writing SMART objectives includes helping educators focus and specify what they intend to teach, assess, and offer as feedback for the learner. This shapes the learning session's scope, the method of instruction, and the type and quality of the assessment.

Do Learning Objectives Add Value to Curriculum and Assessment?

For many, writing out the learning objectives appears to be an effort to its own end. However, learning objectives are the foundation for instructional alignment. Instructional alignment means that learning objectives, assessment tools, and instructional methods mutually support the same educational outcome. 5 This is known as the Golden Triangle 5 ( Figure 2 ). Well-defined learning objectives outline the desired outcome for learners, which will help specify the instructional method. For example, if we want the learners to demonstrate correct intubation procedure in a normal adult 100% of the time, we need the instructional method to involve some sort of hands-on experience so that learners can demonstrate their skills. In contrast, if the teacher lectures about correct intubation without the opportunity for learners to complete hands-on skills, the learning activity is not aligned with the stated learning objective.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is i2333-0406-19-4-1a-f02.jpg

Instructional alignment of learning objectives, assessment and instructional methods.

Likewise, learning objectives guide the assessment method. Taking the above example: If the objective is for learners to be 100% successful in normal adult intubation, assessing their skill using a written exam would misalign the objective and assessment method. As educators, we would miss the accuracy of the skill! Instead, the assessment method needs hands-on performance.

Constructive alignment underscores what learning objectives contribute towards achieving the intended educational outcomes. Learning objectives also contribute to shaping expectations, preparing learners for the educational activity and the standard by which their performance will be measured; the objectives also define faculty and learner responsibilities towards achieving the intended learning outcomes. Learning objectives may also guide teaching, by defining and limiting content or activities.

Are SMART Learning Objectives a Required Component of Medical Education?

Learning objectives are a required component in the planning of all medical education curricula. At the undergraduate level, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) requires that “the faculty of a medical school define its medical education program objectives in outcome-based terms that allow the assessment of medical student's progress in developing the competencies that the profession and the public expect of a physician.” 6 At the graduate medical education level, one of the common program requirements from the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) states that each program must distribute competency-based goals and objectives for each assignment at every educational level. 7 Even for continuing medical education (CME), both the American Medical Association (AMA) and Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) require that a CME activity has learning objectives to qualify for category 1 credit. 8 Consequently, writing effective learning objectives is a core skill that every academic anesthesiologist should master.

Writing effective learning objectives is a necessary skill in academic medicine. Well-defined learning objectives describe what the learner must be able to achieve upon completion of the educational activity. Bloom's Taxonomy and SMART are two tools that educators may leverage towards writing learning objectives that effectively relate the intended outcomes to the learners, simultaneously setting up the educators to successfully attain the learning outcomes within the time and resources provided. The successful academic anesthesiologist can align the instructional method, assessment, and intended learning outcome by using SMART learning objectives rather than learning goals. In closing, we revisit the learning goals in the opening anecdote of this review article.

Upon completion of the grand rounds presentation, participants will be able to:

  • Describe at least 3 intracellular mechanisms within the muscle cells during an episode of malignant hyperthermia (MH). The description must include: unregulated calcium release from sarcoplasmic reticulum, sustained muscle contractures, and the resulting hypermetabolic response.
  • Relate the 4 most common clinical signs of MH (hypercarbia, tachycardia/tachypnea, generalized muscle rigidity, and hyperthermia) to the underlying physiological mechanisms in the muscle cells.
  • Summarize, in order, the critical steps in the intraoperative management of an MH crisis according to recommendations from the Malignant Hyperthermia Association of the United States.
  • Formulate an anesthetic plan for management of a MH-susceptible patient that must include the use of: non-triggering anesthetic agents, monitoring for signs of MH, and preparedness to treat acute MH.
  • Critically appraise the role of caffeinehalothane testing for MH including indications, location, sensitivity, and specificity.

rrh: Learning Objectives

Financial Disclosures: None.

Conflicts of Interest: None.

Author Contributions: Debnath Chatterjee, MD, wrote the manuscript and reviewed the final draft before submission. Janet Corral, PhD, reviewed the initial and final draft and contributed to the content.

  • Columbia University in the City of New York
  • Office of Teaching, Learning, and Innovation
  • University Policies
  • Columbia Online
  • Academic Calendar
  • Resources and Technology
  • Instructional Technologies
  • Teaching in All Modalities

Designing Assignments for Learning

The rapid shift to remote teaching and learning meant that many instructors reimagined their assessment practices. Whether adapting existing assignments or creatively designing new opportunities for their students to learn, instructors focused on helping students make meaning and demonstrate their learning outside of the traditional, face-to-face classroom setting. This resource distills the elements of assignment design that are important to carry forward as we continue to seek better ways of assessing learning and build on our innovative assignment designs.

On this page:

Rethinking traditional tests, quizzes, and exams.

  • Examples from the Columbia University Classroom
  • Tips for Designing Assignments for Learning

Reflect On Your Assignment Design

Connect with the ctl.

  • Resources and References

Cite this resource: Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning (2021). Designing Assignments for Learning. Columbia University. Retrieved [today’s date] from https://ctl.columbia.edu/resources-and-technology/teaching-with-technology/teaching-online/designing-assignments/

how to write assignment objectives

Traditional assessments tend to reveal whether students can recognize, recall, or replicate what was learned out of context, and tend to focus on students providing correct responses (Wiggins, 1990). In contrast, authentic assignments, which are course assessments, engage students in higher order thinking, as they grapple with real or simulated challenges that help them prepare for their professional lives, and draw on the course knowledge learned and the skills acquired to create justifiable answers, performances or products (Wiggins, 1990). An authentic assessment provides opportunities for students to practice, consult resources, learn from feedback, and refine their performances and products accordingly (Wiggins 1990, 1998, 2014). 

Authentic assignments ask students to “do” the subject with an audience in mind and apply their learning in a new situation. Examples of authentic assignments include asking students to: 

  • Write for a real audience (e.g., a memo, a policy brief, letter to the editor, a grant proposal, reports, building a website) and/or publication;
  • Solve problem sets that have real world application; 
  • Design projects that address a real world problem; 
  • Engage in a community-partnered research project;
  • Create an exhibit, performance, or conference presentation ;
  • Compile and reflect on their work through a portfolio/e-portfolio.

Noteworthy elements of authentic designs are that instructors scaffold the assignment, and play an active role in preparing students for the tasks assigned, while students are intentionally asked to reflect on the process and product of their work thus building their metacognitive skills (Herrington and Oliver, 2000; Ashford-Rowe, Herrington and Brown, 2013; Frey, Schmitt, and Allen, 2012). 

It’s worth noting here that authentic assessments can initially be time consuming to design, implement, and grade. They are critiqued for being challenging to use across course contexts and for grading reliability issues (Maclellan, 2004). Despite these challenges, authentic assessments are recognized as beneficial to student learning (Svinicki, 2004) as they are learner-centered (Weimer, 2013), promote academic integrity (McLaughlin, L. and Ricevuto, 2021; Sotiriadou et al., 2019; Schroeder, 2021) and motivate students to learn (Ambrose et al., 2010). The Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning is always available to consult with faculty who are considering authentic assessment designs and to discuss challenges and affordances.   

Examples from the Columbia University Classroom 

Columbia instructors have experimented with alternative ways of assessing student learning from oral exams to technology-enhanced assignments. Below are a few examples of authentic assignments in various teaching contexts across Columbia University. 

  • E-portfolios: Statia Cook shares her experiences with an ePorfolio assignment in her co-taught Frontiers of Science course (a submission to the Voices of Hybrid and Online Teaching and Learning initiative); CUIMC use of ePortfolios ;
  • Case studies: Columbia instructors have engaged their students in authentic ways through case studies drawing on the Case Consortium at Columbia University. Read and watch a faculty spotlight to learn how Professor Mary Ann Price uses the case method to place pre-med students in real-life scenarios;
  • Simulations: students at CUIMC engage in simulations to develop their professional skills in The Mary & Michael Jaharis Simulation Center in the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Helene Fuld Health Trust Simulation Center in the Columbia School of Nursing; 
  • Experiential learning: instructors have drawn on New York City as a learning laboratory such as Barnard’s NYC as Lab webpage which highlights courses that engage students in NYC;
  • Design projects that address real world problems: Yevgeniy Yesilevskiy on the Engineering design projects completed using lab kits during remote learning. Watch Dr. Yesilevskiy talk about his teaching and read the Columbia News article . 
  • Writing assignments: Lia Marshall and her teaching associate Aparna Balasundaram reflect on their “non-disposable or renewable assignments” to prepare social work students for their professional lives as they write for a real audience; and Hannah Weaver spoke about a sandbox assignment used in her Core Literature Humanities course at the 2021 Celebration of Teaching and Learning Symposium . Watch Dr. Weaver share her experiences.  

​Tips for Designing Assignments for Learning

While designing an effective authentic assignment may seem like a daunting task, the following tips can be used as a starting point. See the Resources section for frameworks and tools that may be useful in this effort.  

Align the assignment with your course learning objectives 

Identify the kind of thinking that is important in your course, the knowledge students will apply, and the skills they will practice using through the assignment. What kind of thinking will students be asked to do for the assignment? What will students learn by completing this assignment? How will the assignment help students achieve the desired course learning outcomes? For more information on course learning objectives, see the CTL’s Course Design Essentials self-paced course and watch the video on Articulating Learning Objectives .  

Identify an authentic meaning-making task

For meaning-making to occur, students need to understand the relevance of the assignment to the course and beyond (Ambrose et al., 2010). To Bean (2011) a “meaning-making” or “meaning-constructing” task has two dimensions: 1) it presents students with an authentic disciplinary problem or asks students to formulate their own problems, both of which engage them in active critical thinking, and 2) the problem is placed in “a context that gives students a role or purpose, a targeted audience, and a genre.” (Bean, 2011: 97-98). 

An authentic task gives students a realistic challenge to grapple with, a role to take on that allows them to “rehearse for the complex ambiguities” of life, provides resources and supports to draw on, and requires students to justify their work and the process they used to inform their solution (Wiggins, 1990). Note that if students find an assignment interesting or relevant, they will see value in completing it. 

Consider the kind of activities in the real world that use the knowledge and skills that are the focus of your course. How is this knowledge and these skills applied to answer real-world questions to solve real-world problems? (Herrington et al., 2010: 22). What do professionals or academics in your discipline do on a regular basis? What does it mean to think like a biologist, statistician, historian, social scientist? How might your assignment ask students to draw on current events, issues, or problems that relate to the course and are of interest to them? How might your assignment tap into student motivation and engage them in the kinds of thinking they can apply to better understand the world around them? (Ambrose et al., 2010). 

Determine the evaluation criteria and create a rubric

To ensure equitable and consistent grading of assignments across students, make transparent the criteria you will use to evaluate student work. The criteria should focus on the knowledge and skills that are central to the assignment. Build on the criteria identified, create a rubric that makes explicit the expectations of deliverables and share this rubric with your students so they can use it as they work on the assignment. For more information on rubrics, see the CTL’s resource Incorporating Rubrics into Your Grading and Feedback Practices , and explore the Association of American Colleges & Universities VALUE Rubrics (Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education). 

Build in metacognition

Ask students to reflect on what and how they learned from the assignment. Help students uncover personal relevance of the assignment, find intrinsic value in their work, and deepen their motivation by asking them to reflect on their process and their assignment deliverable. Sample prompts might include: what did you learn from this assignment? How might you draw on the knowledge and skills you used on this assignment in the future? See Ambrose et al., 2010 for more strategies that support motivation and the CTL’s resource on Metacognition ). 

Provide students with opportunities to practice

Design your assignment to be a learning experience and prepare students for success on the assignment. If students can reasonably expect to be successful on an assignment when they put in the required effort ,with the support and guidance of the instructor, they are more likely to engage in the behaviors necessary for learning (Ambrose et al., 2010). Ensure student success by actively teaching the knowledge and skills of the course (e.g., how to problem solve, how to write for a particular audience), modeling the desired thinking, and creating learning activities that build up to a graded assignment. Provide opportunities for students to practice using the knowledge and skills they will need for the assignment, whether through low-stakes in-class activities or homework activities that include opportunities to receive and incorporate formative feedback. For more information on providing feedback, see the CTL resource Feedback for Learning . 

Communicate about the assignment 

Share the purpose, task, audience, expectations, and criteria for the assignment. Students may have expectations about assessments and how they will be graded that is informed by their prior experiences completing high-stakes assessments, so be transparent. Tell your students why you are asking them to do this assignment, what skills they will be using, how it aligns with the course learning outcomes, and why it is relevant to their learning and their professional lives (i.e., how practitioners / professionals use the knowledge and skills in your course in real world contexts and for what purposes). Finally, verify that students understand what they need to do to complete the assignment. This can be done by asking students to respond to poll questions about different parts of the assignment, a “scavenger hunt” of the assignment instructions–giving students questions to answer about the assignment and having them work in small groups to answer the questions, or by having students share back what they think is expected of them.

Plan to iterate and to keep the focus on learning 

Draw on multiple sources of data to help make decisions about what changes are needed to the assignment, the assignment instructions, and/or rubric to ensure that it contributes to student learning. Explore assignment performance data. As Deandra Little reminds us: “a really good assignment, which is a really good assessment, also teaches you something or tells the instructor something. As much as it tells you what students are learning, it’s also telling you what they aren’t learning.” ( Teaching in Higher Ed podcast episode 337 ). Assignment bottlenecks–where students get stuck or struggle–can be good indicators that students need further support or opportunities to practice prior to completing an assignment. This awareness can inform teaching decisions. 

Triangulate the performance data by collecting student feedback, and noting your own reflections about what worked well and what did not. Revise the assignment instructions, rubric, and teaching practices accordingly. Consider how you might better align your assignment with your course objectives and/or provide more opportunities for students to practice using the knowledge and skills that they will rely on for the assignment. Additionally, keep in mind societal, disciplinary, and technological changes as you tweak your assignments for future use. 

Now is a great time to reflect on your practices and experiences with assignment design and think critically about your approach. Take a closer look at an existing assignment. Questions to consider include: What is this assignment meant to do? What purpose does it serve? Why do you ask students to do this assignment? How are they prepared to complete the assignment? Does the assignment assess the kind of learning that you really want? What would help students learn from this assignment? 

Using the tips in the previous section: How can the assignment be tweaked to be more authentic and meaningful to students? 

As you plan forward for post-pandemic teaching and reflect on your practices and reimagine your course design, you may find the following CTL resources helpful: Reflecting On Your Experiences with Remote Teaching , Transition to In-Person Teaching , and Course Design Support .

The Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is here to help!

For assistance with assignment design, rubric design, or any other teaching and learning need, please request a consultation by emailing [email protected]

Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) framework for assignments. The TILT Examples and Resources page ( https://tilthighered.com/tiltexamplesandresources ) includes example assignments from across disciplines, as well as a transparent assignment template and a checklist for designing transparent assignments . Each emphasizes the importance of articulating to students the purpose of the assignment or activity, the what and how of the task, and specifying the criteria that will be used to assess students. 

Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) offers VALUE ADD (Assignment Design and Diagnostic) tools ( https://www.aacu.org/value-add-tools ) to help with the creation of clear and effective assignments that align with the desired learning outcomes and associated VALUE rubrics (Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education). VALUE ADD encourages instructors to explicitly state assignment information such as the purpose of the assignment, what skills students will be using, how it aligns with course learning outcomes, the assignment type, the audience and context for the assignment, clear evaluation criteria, desired formatting, and expectations for completion whether individual or in a group.

Villarroel et al. (2017) propose a blueprint for building authentic assessments which includes four steps: 1) consider the workplace context, 2) design the authentic assessment; 3) learn and apply standards for judgement; and 4) give feedback. 

References 

Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., & DiPietro, M. (2010). Chapter 3: What Factors Motivate Students to Learn? In How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching . Jossey-Bass. 

Ashford-Rowe, K., Herrington, J., and Brown, C. (2013). Establishing the critical elements that determine authentic assessment. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. 39(2), 205-222, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2013.819566 .  

Bean, J.C. (2011). Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom . Second Edition. Jossey-Bass. 

Frey, B. B, Schmitt, V. L., and Allen, J. P. (2012). Defining Authentic Classroom Assessment. Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation. 17(2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.7275/sxbs-0829  

Herrington, J., Reeves, T. C., and Oliver, R. (2010). A Guide to Authentic e-Learning . Routledge. 

Herrington, J. and Oliver, R. (2000). An instructional design framework for authentic learning environments. Educational Technology Research and Development, 48(3), 23-48. 

Litchfield, B. C. and Dempsey, J. V. (2015). Authentic Assessment of Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes. New Directions for Teaching and Learning. 142 (Summer 2015), 65-80. 

Maclellan, E. (2004). How convincing is alternative assessment for use in higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. 29(3), June 2004. DOI: 10.1080/0260293042000188267

McLaughlin, L. and Ricevuto, J. (2021). Assessments in a Virtual Environment: You Won’t Need that Lockdown Browser! Faculty Focus. June 2, 2021. 

Mueller, J. (2005). The Authentic Assessment Toolbox: Enhancing Student Learning through Online Faculty Development . MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching. 1(1). July 2005. Mueller’s Authentic Assessment Toolbox is available online. 

Schroeder, R. (2021). Vaccinate Against Cheating With Authentic Assessment . Inside Higher Ed. (February 26, 2021).  

Sotiriadou, P., Logan, D., Daly, A., and Guest, R. (2019). The role of authentic assessment to preserve academic integrity and promote skills development and employability. Studies in Higher Education. 45(111), 2132-2148. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1582015    

Stachowiak, B. (Host). (November 25, 2020). Authentic Assignments with Deandra Little. (Episode 337). In Teaching in Higher Ed . https://teachinginhighered.com/podcast/authentic-assignments/  

Svinicki, M. D. (2004). Authentic Assessment: Testing in Reality. New Directions for Teaching and Learning. 100 (Winter 2004): 23-29. 

Villarroel, V., Bloxham, S, Bruna, D., Bruna, C., and Herrera-Seda, C. (2017). Authentic assessment: creating a blueprint for course design. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. 43(5), 840-854. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2017.1412396    

Weimer, M. (2013). Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice . Second Edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 

Wiggins, G. (2014). Authenticity in assessment, (re-)defined and explained. Retrieved from https://grantwiggins.wordpress.com/2014/01/26/authenticity-in-assessment-re-defined-and-explained/

Wiggins, G. (1998). Teaching to the (Authentic) Test. Educational Leadership . April 1989. 41-47. 

Wiggins, Grant (1990). The Case for Authentic Assessment . Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation , 2(2). 

Wondering how AI tools might play a role in your course assignments?

See the CTL’s resource “Considerations for AI Tools in the Classroom.”

This website uses cookies to identify users, improve the user experience and requires cookies to work. By continuing to use this website, you consent to Columbia University's use of cookies and similar technologies, in accordance with the Columbia University Website Cookie Notice .

Eberly Center

Teaching excellence & educational innovation, creating assignments.

Here are some general suggestions and questions to consider when creating assignments. There are also many other resources in print and on the web that provide examples of interesting, discipline-specific assignment ideas.

Consider your learning objectives.

What do you want students to learn in your course? What could they do that would show you that they have learned it? To determine assignments that truly serve your course objectives, it is useful to write out your objectives in this form: I want my students to be able to ____. Use active, measurable verbs as you complete that sentence (e.g., compare theories, discuss ramifications, recommend strategies), and your learning objectives will point you towards suitable assignments.

Design assignments that are interesting and challenging.

This is the fun side of assignment design. Consider how to focus students’ thinking in ways that are creative, challenging, and motivating. Think beyond the conventional assignment type! For example, one American historian requires students to write diary entries for a hypothetical Nebraska farmwoman in the 1890s. By specifying that students’ diary entries must demonstrate the breadth of their historical knowledge (e.g., gender, economics, technology, diet, family structure), the instructor gets students to exercise their imaginations while also accomplishing the learning objectives of the course (Walvoord & Anderson, 1989, p. 25).

Double-check alignment.

After creating your assignments, go back to your learning objectives and make sure there is still a good match between what you want students to learn and what you are asking them to do. If you find a mismatch, you will need to adjust either the assignments or the learning objectives. For instance, if your goal is for students to be able to analyze and evaluate texts, but your assignments only ask them to summarize texts, you would need to add an analytical and evaluative dimension to some assignments or rethink your learning objectives.

Name assignments accurately.

Students can be misled by assignments that are named inappropriately. For example, if you want students to analyze a product’s strengths and weaknesses but you call the assignment a “product description,” students may focus all their energies on the descriptive, not the critical, elements of the task. Thus, it is important to ensure that the titles of your assignments communicate their intention accurately to students.

Consider sequencing.

Think about how to order your assignments so that they build skills in a logical sequence. Ideally, assignments that require the most synthesis of skills and knowledge should come later in the semester, preceded by smaller assignments that build these skills incrementally. For example, if an instructor’s final assignment is a research project that requires students to evaluate a technological solution to an environmental problem, earlier assignments should reinforce component skills, including the ability to identify and discuss key environmental issues, apply evaluative criteria, and find appropriate research sources.

Think about scheduling.

Consider your intended assignments in relation to the academic calendar and decide how they can be reasonably spaced throughout the semester, taking into account holidays and key campus events. Consider how long it will take students to complete all parts of the assignment (e.g., planning, library research, reading, coordinating groups, writing, integrating the contributions of team members, developing a presentation), and be sure to allow sufficient time between assignments.

Check feasibility.

Is the workload you have in mind reasonable for your students? Is the grading burden manageable for you? Sometimes there are ways to reduce workload (whether for you or for students) without compromising learning objectives. For example, if a primary objective in assigning a project is for students to identify an interesting engineering problem and do some preliminary research on it, it might be reasonable to require students to submit a project proposal and annotated bibliography rather than a fully developed report. If your learning objectives are clear, you will see where corners can be cut without sacrificing educational quality.

Articulate the task description clearly.

If an assignment is vague, students may interpret it any number of ways – and not necessarily how you intended. Thus, it is critical to clearly and unambiguously identify the task students are to do (e.g., design a website to help high school students locate environmental resources, create an annotated bibliography of readings on apartheid). It can be helpful to differentiate the central task (what students are supposed to produce) from other advice and information you provide in your assignment description.

Establish clear performance criteria.

Different instructors apply different criteria when grading student work, so it’s important that you clearly articulate to students what your criteria are. To do so, think about the best student work you have seen on similar tasks and try to identify the specific characteristics that made it excellent, such as clarity of thought, originality, logical organization, or use of a wide range of sources. Then identify the characteristics of the worst student work you have seen, such as shaky evidence, weak organizational structure, or lack of focus. Identifying these characteristics can help you consciously articulate the criteria you already apply. It is important to communicate these criteria to students, whether in your assignment description or as a separate rubric or scoring guide . Clearly articulated performance criteria can prevent unnecessary confusion about your expectations while also setting a high standard for students to meet.

Specify the intended audience.

Students make assumptions about the audience they are addressing in papers and presentations, which influences how they pitch their message. For example, students may assume that, since the instructor is their primary audience, they do not need to define discipline-specific terms or concepts. These assumptions may not match the instructor’s expectations. Thus, it is important on assignments to specify the intended audience http://wac.colostate.edu/intro/pop10e.cfm (e.g., undergraduates with no biology background, a potential funder who does not know engineering).

Specify the purpose of the assignment.

If students are unclear about the goals or purpose of the assignment, they may make unnecessary mistakes. For example, if students believe an assignment is focused on summarizing research as opposed to evaluating it, they may seriously miscalculate the task and put their energies in the wrong place. The same is true they think the goal of an economics problem set is to find the correct answer, rather than demonstrate a clear chain of economic reasoning. Consequently, it is important to make your objectives for the assignment clear to students.

Specify the parameters.

If you have specific parameters in mind for the assignment (e.g., length, size, formatting, citation conventions) you should be sure to specify them in your assignment description. Otherwise, students may misapply conventions and formats they learned in other courses that are not appropriate for yours.

A Checklist for Designing Assignments

Here is a set of questions you can ask yourself when creating an assignment.

  • Provided a written description of the assignment (in the syllabus or in a separate document)?
  • Specified the purpose of the assignment?
  • Indicated the intended audience?
  • Articulated the instructions in precise and unambiguous language?
  • Provided information about the appropriate format and presentation (e.g., page length, typed, cover sheet, bibliography)?  
  • Indicated special instructions, such as a particular citation style or headings?  
  • Specified the due date and the consequences for missing it?
  • Articulated performance criteria clearly?
  • Indicated the assignment’s point value or percentage of the course grade?
  • Provided students (where appropriate) with models or samples?

Adapted from the WAC Clearinghouse at http://wac.colostate.edu/intro/pop10e.cfm .

CONTACT US to talk with an Eberly colleague in person!

  • Faculty Support
  • Graduate Student Support
  • Canvas @ Carnegie Mellon
  • Quick Links

creative commons image

How to Write Learning Objectives

UW Distance Learning courses have several important features in common: clear learning objectives; a comprehensive introduction to the course; materials and resources that provide the course content; a series of individual lessons, each containing an assignment or exercise; and at least one final assessment.

There are three essential steps in the preliminary course development process that lead to creation of these features: determining learning objectives for the course, choosing the course materials, and dividing the course content into lessons. This section focuses on learning objectives.

Determining Learning Objectives

One of the first things a person taking a course wants to know is "What am I going to learn in this course?" which is not the same as "What will this course cover?" Learning objectives are brief descriptions of specific things a learner completing the course will know or be able to do. They should be succinctly expressed using clear action verbs. A narrative statement of the scope of the course or the principal themes to be treated is still appropriate, but it is not a substitute for a clear list of learning objectives.

Think about what a successful student in your course should be able to do:

  • What concepts should they be using?
  • What kinds of analysis should they be able to perform?
  • What kind of writing should they be able to do?
  • What types of problems should they be solving?

Clearly describing these things for learners is the first vital step to creating an educational experience that will be meaningful, and will motivate them to complete the course. Begin by brainstorming a list of things you wish learners to know or be able to do. You will subsequently design measures for determining whether or not learners have accomplished these objectives (assessments), so thinks in terms of knowledge and skills that can be directly observed and measured. For example, Bill Mannone distinguishes between OVERT vs. COVERT descriptions:

"Remember that your performance must be observable or OVERT. Can you see a student determine? Can you see a student understand? These performances are called COVERT or hidden. Covert refers to performance that cannot be observed directly. There is an easy way to handle these in a performance statement. First you identify the covert skill (i.e., determine, select, understand), and add a word or two to that performance to tell your student what directly visible behavior is an acceptable indicator of the performance." Examples :

Writing Learning Objectives

Once you have a general idea of what you wish learners to know and be able to do, the next step is drafting the text that will clearly and specifically tell them what they can expect to learn. Experience indicates that the text of effective instructional objectives includes three parts. These parts are best described in the work of training and human performance expert Robert Mager:

  • description of a performance - what the learner is to be able to do. Example : be able to write a news article. The performance must be observable. Question to ask when writing this part: What do I want students to be able to do?
  • conditions - important conditions under which the performance is expected to occur Examples : Given a list of... (sort into stacks); when provided with standard tools... (construct a table); without using references... (know the state capitols) Questions to ask when writing this part: What are the important conditions or constraints under which I want them to perform? What the learner will be provided? What will the learner be denied? Are there special conditions which occur on the job or when performing?
  • criterion or standard - (the quality or level of performance that will be considered acceptable) . Examples : include measures of speed (in less than 30 minutes...), direction (according to manufacturers specifications...), accuracy (without error...) , quality (all cuts must be smooth to the touch). Question to ask when writing this part: How well must learners perform for me to be satisfied they've accomplished the objective?
  • Curriculum Development tutorial developed by Leslie Owen Wilson, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
  • Writing Behavioral Objectives , tutorial prepared by Teaching and Learning Center, Elementary General Music.
  • How to Write Behavioral Objectives , Dr. Bob Kizlik, Adprima tutorial. Includes examples of objectives written for English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.
  • Learning Skills Program. Blooms' Taxonomy . Samples of verbs to use that capture various levels and kinds of skills.

In addition to indicating to learners what they will know and be able to do at the successful completion of a course, well-crafted learning objectives are also the touchstones guiding the rest of the course development process. The choice of course materials, assignments or activities, and assessments should all reflect the learning objectives.

The question to consider when building a course from learning objectives is: How does this element of the course relate back to one or more of the learning objectives? For example, learners should not be asked to read or review material that is not relevant to one of the objectives. Nor should they be assessed on skills or knowledge which is not specifically outlined as important in one or more of the objectives.

Additional Resources

Mager, Robert F. (1997). Preparing Instructional Objectives , Third Edition, Atlanta, Georgia: The Center for Effective Performance, Inc.

  • Utility Menu

University Logo

GA4 Tracking Code

Home

fa51e2b1dc8cca8f7467da564e77b5ea

  • Make a Gift
  • Join Our Email List

How to Write an Effective Assignment

At their base, all assignment prompts function a bit like a magnifying glass—they allow a student to isolate, focus on, inspect, and interact with some portion of your course material through a fixed lens of your choosing.

how to write assignment objectives

The Key Components of an Effective Assignment Prompt

All assignments, from ungraded formative response papers all the way up to a capstone assignment, should include the following components to ensure that students and teachers understand not only the learning objective of the assignment, but also the discrete steps which they will need to follow in order to complete it successfully:

  • Preamble.  This situates the assignment within the context of the course, reminding students of what they have been working on in anticipation of the assignment and how that work has prepared them to succeed at it. 
  • Justification and Purpose.  This explains why the particular type or genre of assignment you’ve chosen (e.g., lab report, policy memo, problem set, or personal reflection) is the best way for you and your students to measure how well they’ve met the learning objectives associated with this segment of the course.
  • Mission.  This explains the assignment in broad brush strokes, giving students a general sense of the project you are setting before them. It often gives students guidance on the evidence or data they should be working with, as well as helping them imagine the audience their work should be aimed at.  
  • Tasks.  This outlines what students are supposed to do at a more granular level: for example, how to start, where to look, how to ask for help, etc. If written well, this part of the assignment prompt ought to function as a kind of "process" rubric for students, helping them to decide for themselves whether they are completing the assignment successfully.
  • Submission format.  This tells students, in appropriate detail, which stylistic conventions they should observe and how to submit their work. For example, should the assignment be a five-page paper written in APA format and saved as a .docx file? Should it be uploaded to the course website? Is it due by Tuesday at 5:00pm?

For illustrations of these five components in action, visit our gallery of annotated assignment prompts .

For advice about creative assignments (e.g. podcasts, film projects, visual and performing art projects, etc.), visit our  Guidance on Non-Traditional Forms of Assessment .

For specific advice on different genres of assignment, click below:

Response Papers

Problem sets, source analyses, final exams, concept maps, research papers, oral presentations, poster presentations.

  • Learner-Centered Design
  • Putting Evidence at the Center
  • What Should Students Learn?
  • Start with the Capstone
  • Gallery of Annotated Assignment Prompts
  • Scaffolding: Using Frequency and Sequencing Intentionally
  • Curating Content: The Virtue of Modules
  • Syllabus Design
  • Catalogue Materials
  • Making a Course Presentation Video
  • Teaching Teams
  • In the Classroom
  • Getting Feedback
  • Equitable & Inclusive Teaching
  • Advising and Mentoring
  • Teaching and Your Career
  • Teaching Remotely
  • Tools and Platforms
  • The Science of Learning
  • Bok Publications
  • Other Resources Around Campus

The Guide to Writing Learning Objectives

Luke Leighfield

Leaning objectives play a vital role in course design. Before you dive into writing your course, it's important that you're super clear about your learning goals.

By creating solid learning outcomes and measurable learning objectives, it'll help with your instructional design – keeping student learning on track.

Boords App Screenshot

The Shortcut to Effective Storyboards.

Boords is an easy-to-use storyboarding tool to plan creative projects.

How to write learning outcomes

Learning outcomes (sometimes called course goals) are a broad statement of what your students will be able to do once they've completed the course. You could call the learning outcome the ‘moral of the story’.

Your learning outcomes should be connected to the overall goals of the curriculum for your subject. When you clarify these larger ideas and connect them to the curriculum, it helps students see why the course content is relevant.

One way to write learning outcomes is to think of them as responses to this phrase:

“At the end of the course, students will…”

Here's a sample learning outcome:

“At the end of the course, students will have shown that they can use grammar conventions when creating paragraphs.”

How to write learning objectives

Once you've figured out the learning outcome(s) for your course, it's time to develop some learning objectives. Effective learning objectives allow students to show specific ways that they've gained knowledge, skills, or a change in attitude.

These two questions can help you write clear learning objectives:

One way to articulate learning objectives is to think of them as responses to this phrase:

“At the end of the course, students will be able to…”

Here's a sample learning objective:

“At the end of the course, students will be able to pick out ten rules of grammar that are used in the construction of a ten-sentence paragraph.”

If your course is made up of modules or units, you might want to develop a few learning objectives for each module. Or you could have four to six learning objectives for the whole course.

Four-part ABCD learning objectives

Robert Mager's ABCD model is a way to make sure your learning objectives are specific and measurable. It helps to guide instructors and aid students in the learning process.

Each letter asks a different question about your objective: who, what, how, and how much. You might not need each of the four letters for every learning objective. But it's a good model to keep in mind.

Audience (A)

Who are your learners?

Each learning objective should list something that your audience is able to do after the training. Sometimes, you'll refer to the audience in general terms – like 'the learner' or 'you'. Or it might be more specific, like 'the press operator'.

Behaviour (B)

What do you want your audience to do?

Each learning objective should list something that your audience must do – a behaviour of some sort. It could be simple, like stating a definition or explaining a process. Or it could be something more physical, like performing an action.

The crucial thing is that it's observable behaviour – not something that you can't see, like 'know,' 'understand,' or 'appreciate.'

Conditions (C)

How will the learning happen?

Many learning objectives need to be performed under certain conditions. For example, you might say 'given this list of words, circle the ones that are part of a given machine,' or 'given a wrench, tighten this bolt,' or 'given a schematic diagram, correctly identify the machines in a work area.' You may not always need this learning condition, but you should check to see if it's necessary.

How much will the audience accomplish?

This final part of the learning objective explains the criteria for adequately performing the task. It might be 'in less than five minutes,' or 'with 80% accuracy,' or '15 times an hour.'

Again, you may not always need this learning condition, but you should check to see if it's necessary.

Get your FREE Filmmaking Storyboard Template Bundle

Plan your film with 10 professionally designed storyboard templates as ready-to-use PDFs.

Understanding Bloom's taxonomy

Before you start writing learning objectives, it's a good idea to get a handle on Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. Developed by a group of educators in the late 1940s, it classifies learning objectives into three levels of complexity and specificity.

The main concept of Bloom's taxonomy is that levels of learning can be arranged in a hierarchy. These levels of learning range from less to more complex knowledge. Each level is successive, so students need to master one level before reaching the next one.

Six levels of objectives in the cognitive domain

The original levels published by Bloom and co. in 1956 were in this order:

The Kratwohl remix

In 2001, David Krathwohl published a revised version of Bloom’s taxonomy. This revision of Bloom's original incorporates everything that's been learned in the 40+ years since it was first published.

The revised Bloom's taxonomy has more outcome-focused modern level objectives. It includes switching the names of Bloom's levels from nouns to active verbs. The two highest levels have also been changed, with the top level now being ‘create’.

The revised levels are:

A list of action verbs

As we've learned, effective learning objectives need to be observable or measurable. One way to do this is by using action verbs – like 'identify,' 'argue,' or 'construct' – rather than passive verbs – like 'understand' or 'be aware of.'

There are lots of action verbs associated with each level of the revised Bloom’s taxonomy. They're super helpful for writing good learning objectives, assignment objectives, and exam questions.

Nail your learning objectives with Boords

Boords is the storyboarding app for educators and creative professionals. Simplify your pre-production process with storyboards, scripts, and animatics – then gather feedback – all in one place. Creating storyboards has never been simpler.

Related links

More from the blog..., how to make an elearning storyboard: step-by-step guide plus links to templates.

eLearning storyboards are a big help when you're designing eLearning development courses. We'll show you how to make them.

The Ultimate Instructional Design Storyboarding Template

In the digital age, video-based eLearning has become a quintessential part of effective educational programs.

A guide to Gagné's Nine Events of Instruction

Gagné's Nine Events of Instruction model is a nine-step process for good instructional design.

Boords storyboard creator

Online storyboarding software

The Shortcut to Effective Storyboards

Boords is the modern storyboarding tool that helps video professionals create client-ready storyboards 10x faster.

  • eLearning Platform
  • eLearning Content
  • Access 800 Courses on our Platform
  • Bespoke eLearning
  • Virtual Training
  • Our Pricing
  • Request a Demo
  • Content Partnerships
  • Whitepapers
  • Most Popular Blogs
  • Personal Learning Journeys
  • Training Feedback Form
  • Training Needs Analysis Template
  • Personal Development Plan Template
  • Learning and Development Strategy
  • Talent Management Strategy
  • Kirkpatrick Evaluation Model
  • Microlearning
  • Informal Learning
  • 70 20 10 Learning

Home » Blog » Learning Objectives: How to Write, Types and Examples

Learning Objectives: How to Write, Types and Examples

objectives

For students, learning objectives provide an overview of the key points and main building blocks covered in a topic.

Skillshub’s experience in the academic and corporate world shows that having established learning objectives can help to improve engagement, motivation, and results.

As a thought leader in the field of educational objectives, we believe there are several types and structures of learning objectives you should consider when planning a course or lesson.

In this article, we’ll look at how to write learning objectives effectively, different types of learning objectives, and provide some example objectives to help you get started.

questions

What are Learning Objectives?

Before we cover the details of writing learning objectives, it’s important to understand what they are and why having them is essential.

Learning objectives provide an overview of the topics covered in a course or lesson and allow everyone involved—teachers, students, and even administrators—to have a shared understanding of the goals for any given session.

In simple terms, learning objectives:

  • Outline what students should be able to do after completing the lesson
  • Provide a shared understanding of the topics covered in a course or lesson
  • Help teachers plan and assess learning activities
  • Allow administrators to monitor student progress
  • Make it easier for students to review key material

Essentially, learning objectives provide a framework that benefits everyone involved in the learning process.

Personal learning journey book

Learn How To Create Personal Learning Journeys For FREE!

What’s the difference between a learning objective and a learning outcome.

Learning outcomes and learning objectives are superficially similar, as in both cases, the two terms are used to describe what students should be able to do after completing a course or lesson.

However, there is an essential distinction between the two.

A learning objective refers specifically to the topics that will be covered during a lesson/course. Learning outcomes, on the other hand, look beyond mere knowledge and provide evaluations on how well students can apply what they’ve learned.

For instance, a learning objective may be to “understand the components of the water cycle”. A learning outcome related to this might be to “identify ways in which humans are impacting the global water cycle.”

The learning objective here defines how the lesson or course should be structured, while the learning outcome provides an evaluation of how well students understand and can apply what they have learned.

benefits

Benefits of Well-Written Learning Objectives

Now that you’ve got a clearer understanding of what learning objectives are and how they differ from learning outcomes, let’s take a look at the benefits of having well-crafted learning objectives in place.

There is a wide range of material benefits associated with creating and leveraging learning objectives, including:

Improved lesson and course planning

A clearly stated learning objective provides the basis for lesson and course planning. Well-written objectives help teachers identify not only the topics that need to be covered, but also the resources (e.g., books or videos) needed to cover them effectively.

Improved assessment

Having established learning objectives in place helps teachers create assessments which accurately evaluate student understanding of any given topic.

Teachers can use learning objectives to create quizzes, tests, and other assessments to accurately evaluate student knowledge.

Improved student understanding

Clear learning objectives are helpful for students in a number of ways.

For instance, having an overview of the topics covered in a lesson or course can help students track their progress more effectively and identify areas which may need review.

Furthermore, having objectives in place can help reduce the cognitive load associated with learning new topics, allowing students to focus more on their understanding of a subject rather than worrying about what needs to be done next.

Increased student engagement

Having established learning objectives in place can help keep students and employees engaged during lessons and lectures.

When students have a clear understanding of the topics covered, it becomes easier for them to follow along with the lesson plan and stay focused on the topic at hand.

Furthermore, providing objectives can motivate students by setting out specific goals they should be working towards.

More effective communication between teachers, students, and administrators

A shared understanding of learning objectives helps to ensure effective communication between all stakeholders in the educational process.

Teachers can use objectives to effectively communicate expectations with students, while administrators can use them to monitor student progress.

Having established learning objectives also makes it easier for teachers and administrators to identify potential issues or areas in which students may need additional support.

A better focus on the topics covered in a given course or lesson

Finally, having learning objectives in place helps to ensure that all stakeholders are focusing on the topics covered in a lesson or course.

Objectives set out specific goals which everyone should be working towards and help to keep discussions focused.

By providing an overview of the topics covered, learning objectives can also help teachers identify areas which need further exploration or review.

Overall, having clear learning objectives can help to improve results by providing everyone involved with a shared understanding of the goals of any given lesson or course.

plug-in

How to Write Effective Learning Objectives

While the basic idea of learning objectives is simple, the act of creating effective learning objectives requires a bit more thought and consideration.

Let’s take a look at some tips to help you craft practical learning objectives:

Understanding the ABCD Model

The ABCD model provides a foundation for creating effective learning objectives.

The ABCD stands for:

The Audience portion of the ABCD model refers to whom the objective is intended for. The intended audience for any learning objective should modify the content and language used in the objective.

For instance, objectives for younger students may need to be simplified or contain more visual aids, whereas objectives for adult learners can assume a higher level of knowledge and use more sophisticated language.

The Behaviour associated with the ABCD model refers to what type of action should be taken by the audience in question.

This could include analytical thinking, problem-solving, writing, or any other behaviour which is relevant to the topic being covered.

The type of behaviour should be specific and clearly defined in order for it to be effectively measured.

The Condition portion of the model refers to what context or circumstances will have an impact on how the objective is achieved.

For instance, a learning objective may require students to solve a problem in a particular way (e.g., without using a calculator).

The condition portion of the ABCD model ensures that any necessary qualifications are taken into account when crafting an objective.

The Degree portion of the ABCD model refers to how successful students should be in order to achieve the learning objective.

This can include anything from basic understanding to complete mastery of the topic in question.

The degree should be clearly specified so that it can be effectively measured when assessing student performance.

Putting it all together

In other words, learning objectives should provide a description of who is being taught, what they should be able to do afterwards, the conditions under which this can be achieved, and how well it must be done.

Using the ABCD model provides an accessible framework that specific learning objectives can be crafted around.

targets

Breaking Down the Process

To help you master the process of creating effective learning objectives, we’ve broken down the process into four steps:

Identify your audience

When crafting learning objectives, it’s important to consider who the objective is intended for. Identifying the intended audience will inform the language and content used in crafting the objective.

Specify desired learner behaviour

Having a specific behaviour in mind will help you create a practical learning objective. Consider which behaviours are necessary for learners to master the topic, and strive to ensure that the objectives reflect these behaviours.

Determine the conditions and constraints

The conditions and constraints surrounding the learning objective should be made explicit. This includes any qualifications or stipulations which must be met in order for learners to achieve the objective.

It should also consider any possible constraints or limitations that may impact how the objective is achieved. These constraints could include time or resource limitations, for example.

Define the degree of success desired

Finally, you should determine how successful learners must be in order to achieve the objective. This could include understanding basic concepts or mastering all aspects of a topic.

By defining the degree of success desired, it will be easier to measure whether learners have achieved the objective.

The degree should be specific and measurable in order for learners to effectively work towards it. This could include anything from basic understanding to complete mastery of the topic in question.

Taking a step-by-step process

By taking a step-by-step approach to creating practical learning objectives, it will be easier to ensure that the desired outcome is achieved.

Ideally, any learning objective should contain all of the necessary information to help learners understand what they need to do in order to succeed.

To achieve this, you should start by outlining what the learner needs to do in a clear and concise manner.

Then, break down each step into more detailed tasks to ensure that all necessary aspects of the objective are included. This could include defining any qualifications or constraints which may impact the completion of the task.

Finally, consider how successful learners must be in order to achieve the task set out in the learning objectives. This should be measurable so that learners can effectively work towards it and track their progress.

By taking a step-by-step approach to writing learning objectives, you will be able to ensure that the desired outcomes are achieved for each lesson or course.

puzzle-connect

Types of Learning Objectives

There are three primary types of learning objectives that can be used as the basis for crafting your own practical learning objectives.

Using these archetypes along with the ABCD model will help to ensure that your objectives are specific, measurable, and achievable.

Knowledge-based Objectives

Knowledge-based objectives are used to measure the learner’s understanding of a particular concept.

This type of objective should focus on testing the learner’s knowledge and comprehension in order to assess their level of understanding.

A good example of a knowledge-based objective would be:

“The learner will be able to explain the process of photosynthesis in at least three sentences.”

Skill-based Objectives

Skill-based objectives are used to assess the learner’s ability to apply their understanding of a concept.

This type of objective should focus on testing the learner’s ability to use the knowledge they have acquired in order to complete a task.

A good example of a skill-based objective would be:

“The learner will be able to apply the principles of photosynthesis to solve a problem.”

Attitude-based Objectives

Attitude-based objectives are used to assess the learner’s attitude towards the concept.

This type of objective should focus on testing the learner’s ability to think critically about a concept and their willingness to apply this knowledge in real-world situations.

A good example of an attitude-based objective would be:

“The learner will be able to demonstrate an understanding of photosynthesis and its implications for sustainability.”

examples

Learning Objectives Examples

To help make the process of crafting practical learning objectives easier, here are some examples you can use as a reference point.

Knowledge-Based Objectives Examples

“The learner will be able to list the three main components of photosynthesis and explain their role in the process.”

“The learner will be able to identify the five primary sources of energy used in photosynthesis and explain how they are utilised.”

Skill-Based Objectives Examples

“The learner will be able to apply their knowledge of photosynthesis to construct a model demonstrating the process.”

“The learner will be able to use the principles of photosynthesis to design an experiment that tests one of its aspects. “

Attitude-Based Objectives Examples

“The learner will be able to discuss the implications of photosynthesis on climate change and how it can help reduce negative impacts.”

“The learner will demonstrate an understanding of the importance of photosynthesis for our environment and its impact on sustainability.”

Best Practices for Writing Learning Objectives

While writing learning objectives can be challenging, the good news is that there is established best practice for crafting effective and practical learning objectives.

By following these guidelines, you will be able to ensure that your learning objectives are clear, achievable, and useful.

Make your Objectives Specific and Measurable

Good learning objectives are specific and should clearly indicate what the learner needs to accomplish to achieve the desired outcome. They should also be measurable so that it is evident when the learner has achieved them.

Use Action Verbs

Action verbs should be used in the learning objectives to indicate what the learner will do. This will make it clear to both the trainer and the learners what is expected of them.

Action verbs include:

• Understand • Identify • Demonstrate • Apply

Consider the Level of Difficulty

Before writing the learning objective, you should consider the difficulty level appropriate for the learners. The degree of difficulty should be challenging but also achievable so that learners can successfully work towards it.

Align objectives with the overall learning goals

Learning objectives should be aligned with the overall learning goals of the course or lesson. This will ensure that all objectives contribute towards achieving the desired outcome for the learners.

important

Turning Learning Objectives into Training Objectives

While learning objectives are most commonly used in educational settings to help guide the learning process, they can also be used as a basis for creating training objectives.

Training objectives should focus on the desired outcomes from the training activity and use similar language and structure as learning objectives.

The critical difference is that the focus will be more on how to best achieve these outcomes rather than what needs to be learned.

Some strategies for turning objectives into training objectives include:

  • Focus on how to effectively apply the knowledge or skills acquired from the learning activity.
  • Consider how best to facilitate the transfer of this knowledge or skill so that learners can use it in their professional lives. Make sure the objective is measurable and achievable.

An example of a training objective derived from a learning objective is:

Learning Objective: “The learner will be able to identify the five primary sources of energy used in photosynthesis and explain how they are utilised.”

Training Objective: “The learners will understand how to combine different sources of energy to create new products or applications.”

Developing content and assessments that align with objectives

The primary difference between learning and training objectives is that learning objectives focus on knowledge acquisition, whereas training objectives focus on skill development.

Where learning objectives prioritise content that teaches the learner about a specific concept, training objectives focus on developing problem-solving skills that can be applied to real-world scenarios.

When it comes to assessments, learning objectives should align with content and assessments that allow learners to demonstrate their understanding of the material. This could include multiple choice questions, short answer tests, and even practical activities.

By comparison, assessments for training objectives should encourage learners to apply their skills in a practical setting. This could include case studies, simulations, and group activities that allow learners to use the knowledge they have acquired in a problem-solving context.

Assessing and Evaluating Learning Objectives

Once written, learning objectives should not be static and should be reviewed regularly to ensure they are still relevant and achievable. To assess the learning objectives, it is essential to use both formative and summative assessments.

Formative assessments should be used during the learning process to measure progress and help identify any areas where learners may need additional support or guidance. This could include quizzes, tests, or group activities.

On the other hand, summative assessments should be used at the end of the learning process to measure the transfer of learning. These could include essays or presentations that require learners to demonstrate their understanding of the material.

By regularly assessing and evaluating your learning objectives, you can ensure they remain relevant and achievable for all learners. This is particularly true of training objectives where the application of the skills acquired is tested in a practical setting.

office painter

Measuring Learning Objectives

The ability to measure learning objectives is essential for assessing the success of a course or lesson. Learning objectives should be measurable to ensure it is evident when learners have met them.

As mentioned, formative assessments should be used during the learning process to help measure progress, while summative assessments should be used to measure how much learners have learned.

Other methods for measuring learning objectives include:

  • Pre- and Post-Tests: This involves administering a test or quiz before and after the lesson to measure how much the learners have learned.
  • Self-Assessments: Ask learners to reflect on what they have learned at the end of each lesson or session.
  • Observation: An observer can be used to watch a learning activity and provide feedback on how well learners are performing.
  • Projects: Ask learners to create a project or product at the end of the lesson that demonstrates their understanding of the material.

By using these different methods of measurement, you can ensure that your learning objectives are being met and that learners are gaining the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.

Final Thoughts

Learning objectives are essential for any educational or training setting.

By measuring learning objectives regularly, you can more accurately track the success of your course or lesson and ensure that all learners achieve their desired outcomes.

Skillshub’s innovative eLearning platform makes it easy for trainers to create, measure, and assess learning objectives. With tools like quizzes and assessments, and reporting tools to track progress, Skillshub can help you ensure that all learners are achieving their desired outcomes.

Our professionally designed off-the-shelf courses are also a great way to get started and provide you with all the tools and resources you need to develop engaging and interactive courses.

With our comprehensive suite of e-learning solutions, Skillshub can ensure that your learners have the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.

If you’re looking for an easy and efficient way to create, measure, and assess learning objectives, Skillshub is the perfect platform for you.

Contact us today to find out how we can help you achieve your educational goals.

Sean photo

Sean McPheat

Sean is the CEO of Skillshub. He’s a published author and has been featured on CNN, BBC and ITV as a leading authority in the learning and development industry. Sean is responsible for the vision and strategy at Skillshub, helping to ensure innovation within the company.

Linkedin

Updated on: 11 October, 2023

Would your connections like this too? Please share.

Twitter icon

You might also be interested in…

office illustration

Importance and Benefits of Providing Employee Training

puzzles office

10 Important Steps for Building Relationships at Work

office_illustration

Exploring Different Types of Learning Styles

employee engagement

Employee Engagement Strategies for a Productive Workplace

training development

The Benefits of Training and Development in the Workplace

office work

11 Common Workplace Training and Development Issues & Solutions

  • elearning Content
  • Get In Touch

The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Understanding Assignments

What this handout is about.

The first step in any successful college writing venture is reading the assignment. While this sounds like a simple task, it can be a tough one. This handout will help you unravel your assignment and begin to craft an effective response. Much of the following advice will involve translating typical assignment terms and practices into meaningful clues to the type of writing your instructor expects. See our short video for more tips.

Basic beginnings

Regardless of the assignment, department, or instructor, adopting these two habits will serve you well :

  • Read the assignment carefully as soon as you receive it. Do not put this task off—reading the assignment at the beginning will save you time, stress, and problems later. An assignment can look pretty straightforward at first, particularly if the instructor has provided lots of information. That does not mean it will not take time and effort to complete; you may even have to learn a new skill to complete the assignment.
  • Ask the instructor about anything you do not understand. Do not hesitate to approach your instructor. Instructors would prefer to set you straight before you hand the paper in. That’s also when you will find their feedback most useful.

Assignment formats

Many assignments follow a basic format. Assignments often begin with an overview of the topic, include a central verb or verbs that describe the task, and offer some additional suggestions, questions, or prompts to get you started.

An Overview of Some Kind

The instructor might set the stage with some general discussion of the subject of the assignment, introduce the topic, or remind you of something pertinent that you have discussed in class. For example:

“Throughout history, gerbils have played a key role in politics,” or “In the last few weeks of class, we have focused on the evening wear of the housefly …”

The Task of the Assignment

Pay attention; this part tells you what to do when you write the paper. Look for the key verb or verbs in the sentence. Words like analyze, summarize, or compare direct you to think about your topic in a certain way. Also pay attention to words such as how, what, when, where, and why; these words guide your attention toward specific information. (See the section in this handout titled “Key Terms” for more information.)

“Analyze the effect that gerbils had on the Russian Revolution”, or “Suggest an interpretation of housefly undergarments that differs from Darwin’s.”

Additional Material to Think about

Here you will find some questions to use as springboards as you begin to think about the topic. Instructors usually include these questions as suggestions rather than requirements. Do not feel compelled to answer every question unless the instructor asks you to do so. Pay attention to the order of the questions. Sometimes they suggest the thinking process your instructor imagines you will need to follow to begin thinking about the topic.

“You may wish to consider the differing views held by Communist gerbils vs. Monarchist gerbils, or Can there be such a thing as ‘the housefly garment industry’ or is it just a home-based craft?”

These are the instructor’s comments about writing expectations:

“Be concise”, “Write effectively”, or “Argue furiously.”

Technical Details

These instructions usually indicate format rules or guidelines.

“Your paper must be typed in Palatino font on gray paper and must not exceed 600 pages. It is due on the anniversary of Mao Tse-tung’s death.”

The assignment’s parts may not appear in exactly this order, and each part may be very long or really short. Nonetheless, being aware of this standard pattern can help you understand what your instructor wants you to do.

Interpreting the assignment

Ask yourself a few basic questions as you read and jot down the answers on the assignment sheet:

Why did your instructor ask you to do this particular task?

Who is your audience.

  • What kind of evidence do you need to support your ideas?

What kind of writing style is acceptable?

  • What are the absolute rules of the paper?

Try to look at the question from the point of view of the instructor. Recognize that your instructor has a reason for giving you this assignment and for giving it to you at a particular point in the semester. In every assignment, the instructor has a challenge for you. This challenge could be anything from demonstrating an ability to think clearly to demonstrating an ability to use the library. See the assignment not as a vague suggestion of what to do but as an opportunity to show that you can handle the course material as directed. Paper assignments give you more than a topic to discuss—they ask you to do something with the topic. Keep reminding yourself of that. Be careful to avoid the other extreme as well: do not read more into the assignment than what is there.

Of course, your instructor has given you an assignment so that he or she will be able to assess your understanding of the course material and give you an appropriate grade. But there is more to it than that. Your instructor has tried to design a learning experience of some kind. Your instructor wants you to think about something in a particular way for a particular reason. If you read the course description at the beginning of your syllabus, review the assigned readings, and consider the assignment itself, you may begin to see the plan, purpose, or approach to the subject matter that your instructor has created for you. If you still aren’t sure of the assignment’s goals, try asking the instructor. For help with this, see our handout on getting feedback .

Given your instructor’s efforts, it helps to answer the question: What is my purpose in completing this assignment? Is it to gather research from a variety of outside sources and present a coherent picture? Is it to take material I have been learning in class and apply it to a new situation? Is it to prove a point one way or another? Key words from the assignment can help you figure this out. Look for key terms in the form of active verbs that tell you what to do.

Key Terms: Finding Those Active Verbs

Here are some common key words and definitions to help you think about assignment terms:

Information words Ask you to demonstrate what you know about the subject, such as who, what, when, where, how, and why.

  • define —give the subject’s meaning (according to someone or something). Sometimes you have to give more than one view on the subject’s meaning
  • describe —provide details about the subject by answering question words (such as who, what, when, where, how, and why); you might also give details related to the five senses (what you see, hear, feel, taste, and smell)
  • explain —give reasons why or examples of how something happened
  • illustrate —give descriptive examples of the subject and show how each is connected with the subject
  • summarize —briefly list the important ideas you learned about the subject
  • trace —outline how something has changed or developed from an earlier time to its current form
  • research —gather material from outside sources about the subject, often with the implication or requirement that you will analyze what you have found

Relation words Ask you to demonstrate how things are connected.

  • compare —show how two or more things are similar (and, sometimes, different)
  • contrast —show how two or more things are dissimilar
  • apply—use details that you’ve been given to demonstrate how an idea, theory, or concept works in a particular situation
  • cause —show how one event or series of events made something else happen
  • relate —show or describe the connections between things

Interpretation words Ask you to defend ideas of your own about the subject. Do not see these words as requesting opinion alone (unless the assignment specifically says so), but as requiring opinion that is supported by concrete evidence. Remember examples, principles, definitions, or concepts from class or research and use them in your interpretation.

  • assess —summarize your opinion of the subject and measure it against something
  • prove, justify —give reasons or examples to demonstrate how or why something is the truth
  • evaluate, respond —state your opinion of the subject as good, bad, or some combination of the two, with examples and reasons
  • support —give reasons or evidence for something you believe (be sure to state clearly what it is that you believe)
  • synthesize —put two or more things together that have not been put together in class or in your readings before; do not just summarize one and then the other and say that they are similar or different—you must provide a reason for putting them together that runs all the way through the paper
  • analyze —determine how individual parts create or relate to the whole, figure out how something works, what it might mean, or why it is important
  • argue —take a side and defend it with evidence against the other side

More Clues to Your Purpose As you read the assignment, think about what the teacher does in class:

  • What kinds of textbooks or coursepack did your instructor choose for the course—ones that provide background information, explain theories or perspectives, or argue a point of view?
  • In lecture, does your instructor ask your opinion, try to prove her point of view, or use keywords that show up again in the assignment?
  • What kinds of assignments are typical in this discipline? Social science classes often expect more research. Humanities classes thrive on interpretation and analysis.
  • How do the assignments, readings, and lectures work together in the course? Instructors spend time designing courses, sometimes even arguing with their peers about the most effective course materials. Figuring out the overall design to the course will help you understand what each assignment is meant to achieve.

Now, what about your reader? Most undergraduates think of their audience as the instructor. True, your instructor is a good person to keep in mind as you write. But for the purposes of a good paper, think of your audience as someone like your roommate: smart enough to understand a clear, logical argument, but not someone who already knows exactly what is going on in your particular paper. Remember, even if the instructor knows everything there is to know about your paper topic, he or she still has to read your paper and assess your understanding. In other words, teach the material to your reader.

Aiming a paper at your audience happens in two ways: you make decisions about the tone and the level of information you want to convey.

  • Tone means the “voice” of your paper. Should you be chatty, formal, or objective? Usually you will find some happy medium—you do not want to alienate your reader by sounding condescending or superior, but you do not want to, um, like, totally wig on the man, you know? Eschew ostentatious erudition: some students think the way to sound academic is to use big words. Be careful—you can sound ridiculous, especially if you use the wrong big words.
  • The level of information you use depends on who you think your audience is. If you imagine your audience as your instructor and she already knows everything you have to say, you may find yourself leaving out key information that can cause your argument to be unconvincing and illogical. But you do not have to explain every single word or issue. If you are telling your roommate what happened on your favorite science fiction TV show last night, you do not say, “First a dark-haired white man of average height, wearing a suit and carrying a flashlight, walked into the room. Then a purple alien with fifteen arms and at least three eyes turned around. Then the man smiled slightly. In the background, you could hear a clock ticking. The room was fairly dark and had at least two windows that I saw.” You also do not say, “This guy found some aliens. The end.” Find some balance of useful details that support your main point.

You’ll find a much more detailed discussion of these concepts in our handout on audience .

The Grim Truth

With a few exceptions (including some lab and ethnography reports), you are probably being asked to make an argument. You must convince your audience. It is easy to forget this aim when you are researching and writing; as you become involved in your subject matter, you may become enmeshed in the details and focus on learning or simply telling the information you have found. You need to do more than just repeat what you have read. Your writing should have a point, and you should be able to say it in a sentence. Sometimes instructors call this sentence a “thesis” or a “claim.”

So, if your instructor tells you to write about some aspect of oral hygiene, you do not want to just list: “First, you brush your teeth with a soft brush and some peanut butter. Then, you floss with unwaxed, bologna-flavored string. Finally, gargle with bourbon.” Instead, you could say, “Of all the oral cleaning methods, sandblasting removes the most plaque. Therefore it should be recommended by the American Dental Association.” Or, “From an aesthetic perspective, moldy teeth can be quite charming. However, their joys are short-lived.”

Convincing the reader of your argument is the goal of academic writing. It doesn’t have to say “argument” anywhere in the assignment for you to need one. Look at the assignment and think about what kind of argument you could make about it instead of just seeing it as a checklist of information you have to present. For help with understanding the role of argument in academic writing, see our handout on argument .

What kind of evidence do you need?

There are many kinds of evidence, and what type of evidence will work for your assignment can depend on several factors–the discipline, the parameters of the assignment, and your instructor’s preference. Should you use statistics? Historical examples? Do you need to conduct your own experiment? Can you rely on personal experience? See our handout on evidence for suggestions on how to use evidence appropriately.

Make sure you are clear about this part of the assignment, because your use of evidence will be crucial in writing a successful paper. You are not just learning how to argue; you are learning how to argue with specific types of materials and ideas. Ask your instructor what counts as acceptable evidence. You can also ask a librarian for help. No matter what kind of evidence you use, be sure to cite it correctly—see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial .

You cannot always tell from the assignment just what sort of writing style your instructor expects. The instructor may be really laid back in class but still expect you to sound formal in writing. Or the instructor may be fairly formal in class and ask you to write a reflection paper where you need to use “I” and speak from your own experience.

Try to avoid false associations of a particular field with a style (“art historians like wacky creativity,” or “political scientists are boring and just give facts”) and look instead to the types of readings you have been given in class. No one expects you to write like Plato—just use the readings as a guide for what is standard or preferable to your instructor. When in doubt, ask your instructor about the level of formality she or he expects.

No matter what field you are writing for or what facts you are including, if you do not write so that your reader can understand your main idea, you have wasted your time. So make clarity your main goal. For specific help with style, see our handout on style .

Technical details about the assignment

The technical information you are given in an assignment always seems like the easy part. This section can actually give you lots of little hints about approaching the task. Find out if elements such as page length and citation format (see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial ) are negotiable. Some professors do not have strong preferences as long as you are consistent and fully answer the assignment. Some professors are very specific and will deduct big points for deviations.

Usually, the page length tells you something important: The instructor thinks the size of the paper is appropriate to the assignment’s parameters. In plain English, your instructor is telling you how many pages it should take for you to answer the question as fully as you are expected to. So if an assignment is two pages long, you cannot pad your paper with examples or reword your main idea several times. Hit your one point early, defend it with the clearest example, and finish quickly. If an assignment is ten pages long, you can be more complex in your main points and examples—and if you can only produce five pages for that assignment, you need to see someone for help—as soon as possible.

Tricks that don’t work

Your instructors are not fooled when you:

  • spend more time on the cover page than the essay —graphics, cool binders, and cute titles are no replacement for a well-written paper.
  • use huge fonts, wide margins, or extra spacing to pad the page length —these tricks are immediately obvious to the eye. Most instructors use the same word processor you do. They know what’s possible. Such tactics are especially damning when the instructor has a stack of 60 papers to grade and yours is the only one that low-flying airplane pilots could read.
  • use a paper from another class that covered “sort of similar” material . Again, the instructor has a particular task for you to fulfill in the assignment that usually relates to course material and lectures. Your other paper may not cover this material, and turning in the same paper for more than one course may constitute an Honor Code violation . Ask the instructor—it can’t hurt.
  • get all wacky and “creative” before you answer the question . Showing that you are able to think beyond the boundaries of a simple assignment can be good, but you must do what the assignment calls for first. Again, check with your instructor. A humorous tone can be refreshing for someone grading a stack of papers, but it will not get you a good grade if you have not fulfilled the task.

Critical reading of assignments leads to skills in other types of reading and writing. If you get good at figuring out what the real goals of assignments are, you are going to be better at understanding the goals of all of your classes and fields of study.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Make a Gift

Teaching, Learning, & Professional Development Center

  • Teaching Resources
  • TLPDC Teaching Resources

How Do I Create Meaningful and Effective Assignments?

Prepared by allison boye, ph.d. teaching, learning, and professional development center.

Assessment is a necessary part of the teaching and learning process, helping us measure whether our students have really learned what we want them to learn. While exams and quizzes are certainly favorite and useful methods of assessment, out of class assignments (written or otherwise) can offer similar insights into our students' learning.  And just as creating a reliable test takes thoughtfulness and skill, so does creating meaningful and effective assignments. Undoubtedly, many instructors have been on the receiving end of disappointing student work, left wondering what went wrong… and often, those problems can be remedied in the future by some simple fine-tuning of the original assignment.  This paper will take a look at some important elements to consider when developing assignments, and offer some easy approaches to creating a valuable assessment experience for all involved.

First Things First…

Before assigning any major tasks to students, it is imperative that you first define a few things for yourself as the instructor:

  • Your goals for the assignment . Why are you assigning this project, and what do you hope your students will gain from completing it? What knowledge, skills, and abilities do you aim to measure with this assignment?  Creating assignments is a major part of overall course design, and every project you assign should clearly align with your goals for the course in general.  For instance, if you want your students to demonstrate critical thinking, perhaps asking them to simply summarize an article is not the best match for that goal; a more appropriate option might be to ask for an analysis of a controversial issue in the discipline. Ultimately, the connection between the assignment and its purpose should be clear to both you and your students to ensure that it is fulfilling the desired goals and doesn't seem like “busy work.” For some ideas about what kinds of assignments match certain learning goals, take a look at this page from DePaul University's Teaching Commons.
  • Have they experienced “socialization” in the culture of your discipline (Flaxman, 2005)? Are they familiar with any conventions you might want them to know? In other words, do they know the “language” of your discipline, generally accepted style guidelines, or research protocols?
  • Do they know how to conduct research?  Do they know the proper style format, documentation style, acceptable resources, etc.? Do they know how to use the library (Fitzpatrick, 1989) or evaluate resources?
  • What kinds of writing or work have they previously engaged in?  For instance, have they completed long, formal writing assignments or research projects before? Have they ever engaged in analysis, reflection, or argumentation? Have they completed group assignments before?  Do they know how to write a literature review or scientific report?

In his book Engaging Ideas (1996), John Bean provides a great list of questions to help instructors focus on their main teaching goals when creating an assignment (p.78):

1. What are the main units/modules in my course?

2. What are my main learning objectives for each module and for the course?

3. What thinking skills am I trying to develop within each unit and throughout the course?

4. What are the most difficult aspects of my course for students?

5. If I could change my students' study habits, what would I most like to change?

6. What difference do I want my course to make in my students' lives?

What your students need to know

Once you have determined your own goals for the assignment and the levels of your students, you can begin creating your assignment.  However, when introducing your assignment to your students, there are several things you will need to clearly outline for them in order to ensure the most successful assignments possible.

  • First, you will need to articulate the purpose of the assignment . Even though you know why the assignment is important and what it is meant to accomplish, you cannot assume that your students will intuit that purpose. Your students will appreciate an understanding of how the assignment fits into the larger goals of the course and what they will learn from the process (Hass & Osborn, 2007). Being transparent with your students and explaining why you are asking them to complete a given assignment can ultimately help motivate them to complete the assignment more thoughtfully.
  • If you are asking your students to complete a writing assignment, you should define for them the “rhetorical or cognitive mode/s” you want them to employ in their writing (Flaxman, 2005). In other words, use precise verbs that communicate whether you are asking them to analyze, argue, describe, inform, etc.  (Verbs like “explore” or “comment on” can be too vague and cause confusion.) Provide them with a specific task to complete, such as a problem to solve, a question to answer, or an argument to support.  For those who want assignments to lead to top-down, thesis-driven writing, John Bean (1996) suggests presenting a proposition that students must defend or refute, or a problem that demands a thesis answer.
  • It is also a good idea to define the audience you want your students to address with their assignment, if possible – especially with writing assignments.  Otherwise, students will address only the instructor, often assuming little requires explanation or development (Hedengren, 2004; MIT, 1999). Further, asking students to address the instructor, who typically knows more about the topic than the student, places the student in an unnatural rhetorical position.  Instead, you might consider asking your students to prepare their assignments for alternative audiences such as other students who missed last week's classes, a group that opposes their position, or people reading a popular magazine or newspaper.  In fact, a study by Bean (1996) indicated the students often appreciate and enjoy assignments that vary elements such as audience or rhetorical context, so don't be afraid to get creative!
  • Obviously, you will also need to articulate clearly the logistics or “business aspects” of the assignment . In other words, be explicit with your students about required elements such as the format, length, documentation style, writing style (formal or informal?), and deadlines.  One caveat, however: do not allow the logistics of the paper take precedence over the content in your assignment description; if you spend all of your time describing these things, students might suspect that is all you care about in their execution of the assignment.
  • Finally, you should clarify your evaluation criteria for the assignment. What elements of content are most important? Will you grade holistically or weight features separately? How much weight will be given to individual elements, etc?  Another precaution to take when defining requirements for your students is to take care that your instructions and rubric also do not overshadow the content; prescribing too rigidly each element of an assignment can limit students' freedom to explore and discover. According to Beth Finch Hedengren, “A good assignment provides the purpose and guidelines… without dictating exactly what to say” (2004, p. 27).  If you decide to utilize a grading rubric, be sure to provide that to the students along with the assignment description, prior to their completion of the assignment.

A great way to get students engaged with an assignment and build buy-in is to encourage their collaboration on its design and/or on the grading criteria (Hudd, 2003). In his article “Conducting Writing Assignments,” Richard Leahy (2002) offers a few ideas for building in said collaboration:

• Ask the students to develop the grading scale themselves from scratch, starting with choosing the categories.

• Set the grading categories yourself, but ask the students to help write the descriptions.

• Draft the complete grading scale yourself, then give it to your students for review and suggestions.

A Few Do's and Don'ts…

Determining your goals for the assignment and its essential logistics is a good start to creating an effective assignment. However, there are a few more simple factors to consider in your final design. First, here are a few things you should do :

  • Do provide detail in your assignment description . Research has shown that students frequently prefer some guiding constraints when completing assignments (Bean, 1996), and that more detail (within reason) can lead to more successful student responses.  One idea is to provide students with physical assignment handouts , in addition to or instead of a simple description in a syllabus.  This can meet the needs of concrete learners and give them something tangible to refer to.  Likewise, it is often beneficial to make explicit for students the process or steps necessary to complete an assignment, given that students – especially younger ones – might need guidance in planning and time management (MIT, 1999).
  • Do use open-ended questions.  The most effective and challenging assignments focus on questions that lead students to thinking and explaining, rather than simple yes or no answers, whether explicitly part of the assignment description or in the  brainstorming heuristics (Gardner, 2005).
  • Do direct students to appropriate available resources . Giving students pointers about other venues for assistance can help them get started on the right track independently. These kinds of suggestions might include information about campus resources such as the University Writing Center or discipline-specific librarians, suggesting specific journals or books, or even sections of their textbook, or providing them with lists of research ideas or links to acceptable websites.
  • Do consider providing models – both successful and unsuccessful models (Miller, 2007). These models could be provided by past students, or models you have created yourself.  You could even ask students to evaluate the models themselves using the determined evaluation criteria, helping them to visualize the final product, think critically about how to complete the assignment, and ideally, recognize success in their own work.
  • Do consider including a way for students to make the assignment their own. In their study, Hass and Osborn (2007) confirmed the importance of personal engagement for students when completing an assignment.  Indeed, students will be more engaged in an assignment if it is personally meaningful, practical, or purposeful beyond the classroom.  You might think of ways to encourage students to tap into their own experiences or curiosities, to solve or explore a real problem, or connect to the larger community.  Offering variety in assignment selection can also help students feel more individualized, creative, and in control.
  • If your assignment is substantial or long, do consider sequencing it. Far too often, assignments are given as one-shot final products that receive grades at the end of the semester, eternally abandoned by the student.  By sequencing a large assignment, or essentially breaking it down into a systematic approach consisting of interconnected smaller elements (such as a project proposal, an annotated bibliography, or a rough draft, or a series of mini-assignments related to the longer assignment), you can encourage thoughtfulness, complexity, and thoroughness in your students, as well as emphasize process over final product.

Next are a few elements to avoid in your assignments:

  • Do not ask too many questions in your assignment.  In an effort to challenge students, instructors often err in the other direction, asking more questions than students can reasonably address in a single assignment without losing focus. Offering an overly specific “checklist” prompt often leads to externally organized papers, in which inexperienced students “slavishly follow the checklist instead of integrating their ideas into more organically-discovered structure” (Flaxman, 2005).
  • Do not expect or suggest that there is an “ideal” response to the assignment. A common error for instructors is to dictate content of an assignment too rigidly, or to imply that there is a single correct response or a specific conclusion to reach, either explicitly or implicitly (Flaxman, 2005). Undoubtedly, students do not appreciate feeling as if they must read an instructor's mind to complete an assignment successfully, or that their own ideas have nowhere to go, and can lose motivation as a result. Similarly, avoid assignments that simply ask for regurgitation (Miller, 2007). Again, the best assignments invite students to engage in critical thinking, not just reproduce lectures or readings.
  • Do not provide vague or confusing commands . Do students know what you mean when they are asked to “examine” or “discuss” a topic? Return to what you determined about your students' experiences and levels to help you decide what directions will make the most sense to them and what will require more explanation or guidance, and avoid verbiage that might confound them.
  • Do not impose impossible time restraints or require the use of insufficient resources for completion of the assignment.  For instance, if you are asking all of your students to use the same resource, ensure that there are enough copies available for all students to access – or at least put one copy on reserve in the library. Likewise, make sure that you are providing your students with ample time to locate resources and effectively complete the assignment (Fitzpatrick, 1989).

The assignments we give to students don't simply have to be research papers or reports. There are many options for effective yet creative ways to assess your students' learning! Here are just a few:

Journals, Posters, Portfolios, Letters, Brochures, Management plans, Editorials, Instruction Manuals, Imitations of a text, Case studies, Debates, News release, Dialogues, Videos, Collages, Plays, Power Point presentations

Ultimately, the success of student responses to an assignment often rests on the instructor's deliberate design of the assignment. By being purposeful and thoughtful from the beginning, you can ensure that your assignments will not only serve as effective assessment methods, but also engage and delight your students. If you would like further help in constructing or revising an assignment, the Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development Center is glad to offer individual consultations. In addition, look into some of the resources provided below.

Online Resources

“Creating Effective Assignments” http://www.unh.edu/teaching-excellence/resources/Assignments.htm This site, from the University of New Hampshire's Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning,  provides a brief overview of effective assignment design, with a focus on determining and communicating goals and expectations.

Gardner, T.  (2005, June 12). Ten Tips for Designing Writing Assignments. Traci's Lists of Ten. http://www.tengrrl.com/tens/034.shtml This is a brief yet useful list of tips for assignment design, prepared by a writing teacher and curriculum developer for the National Council of Teachers of English .  The website will also link you to several other lists of “ten tips” related to literacy pedagogy.

“How to Create Effective Assignments for College Students.”  http:// tilt.colostate.edu/retreat/2011/zimmerman.pdf     This PDF is a simplified bulleted list, prepared by Dr. Toni Zimmerman from Colorado State University, offering some helpful ideas for coming up with creative assignments.

“Learner-Centered Assessment” http://cte.uwaterloo.ca/teaching_resources/tips/learner_centered_assessment.html From the Centre for Teaching Excellence at the University of Waterloo, this is a short list of suggestions for the process of designing an assessment with your students' interests in mind. “Matching Learning Goals to Assignment Types.” http://teachingcommons.depaul.edu/How_to/design_assignments/assignments_learning_goals.html This is a great page from DePaul University's Teaching Commons, providing a chart that helps instructors match assignments with learning goals.

Additional References Bean, J.C. (1996). Engaging ideas: The professor's guide to integrating writing, critical thinking, and active learning in the classroom . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Fitzpatrick, R. (1989). Research and writing assignments that reduce fear lead to better papers and more confident students. Writing Across the Curriculum , 3.2, pp. 15 – 24.

Flaxman, R. (2005). Creating meaningful writing assignments. The Teaching Exchange .  Retrieved Jan. 9, 2008 from http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Sheridan_Center/pubs/teachingExchange/jan2005/01_flaxman.pdf

Hass, M. & Osborn, J. (2007, August 13). An emic view of student writing and the writing process. Across the Disciplines, 4. 

Hedengren, B.F. (2004). A TA's guide to teaching writing in all disciplines . Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Hudd, S. S. (2003, April). Syllabus under construction: Involving students in the creation of class assignments.  Teaching Sociology , 31, pp. 195 – 202.

Leahy, R. (2002). Conducting writing assignments. College Teaching , 50.2, pp. 50 – 54.

Miller, H. (2007). Designing effective writing assignments.  Teaching with writing .  University of Minnesota Center for Writing. Retrieved Jan. 9, 2008, from http://writing.umn.edu/tww/assignments/designing.html

MIT Online Writing and Communication Center (1999). Creating Writing Assignments. Retrieved January 9, 2008 from http://web.mit.edu/writing/Faculty/createeffective.html .

Contact TTU

  • Privacy Policy
  • SignUp/Login

Research Method

Home » Assignment – Types, Examples and Writing Guide

Assignment – Types, Examples and Writing Guide

Table of Contents

Assignment

Definition:

Assignment is a task given to students by a teacher or professor, usually as a means of assessing their understanding and application of course material. Assignments can take various forms, including essays, research papers, presentations, problem sets, lab reports, and more.

Assignments are typically designed to be completed outside of class time and may require independent research, critical thinking, and analysis. They are often graded and used as a significant component of a student’s overall course grade. The instructions for an assignment usually specify the goals, requirements, and deadlines for completion, and students are expected to meet these criteria to earn a good grade.

History of Assignment

The use of assignments as a tool for teaching and learning has been a part of education for centuries. Following is a brief history of the Assignment.

  • Ancient Times: Assignments such as writing exercises, recitations, and memorization tasks were used to reinforce learning.
  • Medieval Period : Universities began to develop the concept of the assignment, with students completing essays, commentaries, and translations to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the subject matter.
  • 19th Century : With the growth of schools and universities, assignments became more widespread and were used to assess student progress and achievement.
  • 20th Century: The rise of distance education and online learning led to the further development of assignments as an integral part of the educational process.
  • Present Day: Assignments continue to be used in a variety of educational settings and are seen as an effective way to promote student learning and assess student achievement. The nature and format of assignments continue to evolve in response to changing educational needs and technological innovations.

Types of Assignment

Here are some of the most common types of assignments:

An essay is a piece of writing that presents an argument, analysis, or interpretation of a topic or question. It usually consists of an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

Essay structure:

  • Introduction : introduces the topic and thesis statement
  • Body paragraphs : each paragraph presents a different argument or idea, with evidence and analysis to support it
  • Conclusion : summarizes the key points and reiterates the thesis statement

Research paper

A research paper involves gathering and analyzing information on a particular topic, and presenting the findings in a well-structured, documented paper. It usually involves conducting original research, collecting data, and presenting it in a clear, organized manner.

Research paper structure:

  • Title page : includes the title of the paper, author’s name, date, and institution
  • Abstract : summarizes the paper’s main points and conclusions
  • Introduction : provides background information on the topic and research question
  • Literature review: summarizes previous research on the topic
  • Methodology : explains how the research was conducted
  • Results : presents the findings of the research
  • Discussion : interprets the results and draws conclusions
  • Conclusion : summarizes the key findings and implications

A case study involves analyzing a real-life situation, problem or issue, and presenting a solution or recommendations based on the analysis. It often involves extensive research, data analysis, and critical thinking.

Case study structure:

  • Introduction : introduces the case study and its purpose
  • Background : provides context and background information on the case
  • Analysis : examines the key issues and problems in the case
  • Solution/recommendations: proposes solutions or recommendations based on the analysis
  • Conclusion: Summarize the key points and implications

A lab report is a scientific document that summarizes the results of a laboratory experiment or research project. It typically includes an introduction, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion.

Lab report structure:

  • Title page : includes the title of the experiment, author’s name, date, and institution
  • Abstract : summarizes the purpose, methodology, and results of the experiment
  • Methods : explains how the experiment was conducted
  • Results : presents the findings of the experiment

Presentation

A presentation involves delivering information, data or findings to an audience, often with the use of visual aids such as slides, charts, or diagrams. It requires clear communication skills, good organization, and effective use of technology.

Presentation structure:

  • Introduction : introduces the topic and purpose of the presentation
  • Body : presents the main points, findings, or data, with the help of visual aids
  • Conclusion : summarizes the key points and provides a closing statement

Creative Project

A creative project is an assignment that requires students to produce something original, such as a painting, sculpture, video, or creative writing piece. It allows students to demonstrate their creativity and artistic skills.

Creative project structure:

  • Introduction : introduces the project and its purpose
  • Body : presents the creative work, with explanations or descriptions as needed
  • Conclusion : summarizes the key elements and reflects on the creative process.

Examples of Assignments

Following are Examples of Assignment templates samples:

Essay template:

I. Introduction

  • Hook: Grab the reader’s attention with a catchy opening sentence.
  • Background: Provide some context or background information on the topic.
  • Thesis statement: State the main argument or point of your essay.

II. Body paragraphs

  • Topic sentence: Introduce the main idea or argument of the paragraph.
  • Evidence: Provide evidence or examples to support your point.
  • Analysis: Explain how the evidence supports your argument.
  • Transition: Use a transition sentence to lead into the next paragraph.

III. Conclusion

  • Restate thesis: Summarize your main argument or point.
  • Review key points: Summarize the main points you made in your essay.
  • Concluding thoughts: End with a final thought or call to action.

Research paper template:

I. Title page

  • Title: Give your paper a descriptive title.
  • Author: Include your name and institutional affiliation.
  • Date: Provide the date the paper was submitted.

II. Abstract

  • Background: Summarize the background and purpose of your research.
  • Methodology: Describe the methods you used to conduct your research.
  • Results: Summarize the main findings of your research.
  • Conclusion: Provide a brief summary of the implications and conclusions of your research.

III. Introduction

  • Background: Provide some background information on the topic.
  • Research question: State your research question or hypothesis.
  • Purpose: Explain the purpose of your research.

IV. Literature review

  • Background: Summarize previous research on the topic.
  • Gaps in research: Identify gaps or areas that need further research.

V. Methodology

  • Participants: Describe the participants in your study.
  • Procedure: Explain the procedure you used to conduct your research.
  • Measures: Describe the measures you used to collect data.

VI. Results

  • Quantitative results: Summarize the quantitative data you collected.
  • Qualitative results: Summarize the qualitative data you collected.

VII. Discussion

  • Interpretation: Interpret the results and explain what they mean.
  • Implications: Discuss the implications of your research.
  • Limitations: Identify any limitations or weaknesses of your research.

VIII. Conclusion

  • Review key points: Summarize the main points you made in your paper.

Case study template:

  • Background: Provide background information on the case.
  • Research question: State the research question or problem you are examining.
  • Purpose: Explain the purpose of the case study.

II. Analysis

  • Problem: Identify the main problem or issue in the case.
  • Factors: Describe the factors that contributed to the problem.
  • Alternative solutions: Describe potential solutions to the problem.

III. Solution/recommendations

  • Proposed solution: Describe the solution you are proposing.
  • Rationale: Explain why this solution is the best one.
  • Implementation: Describe how the solution can be implemented.

IV. Conclusion

  • Summary: Summarize the main points of your case study.

Lab report template:

  • Title: Give your report a descriptive title.
  • Date: Provide the date the report was submitted.
  • Background: Summarize the background and purpose of the experiment.
  • Methodology: Describe the methods you used to conduct the experiment.
  • Results: Summarize the main findings of the experiment.
  • Conclusion: Provide a brief summary of the implications and conclusions
  • Background: Provide some background information on the experiment.
  • Hypothesis: State your hypothesis or research question.
  • Purpose: Explain the purpose of the experiment.

IV. Materials and methods

  • Materials: List the materials and equipment used in the experiment.
  • Procedure: Describe the procedure you followed to conduct the experiment.
  • Data: Present the data you collected in tables or graphs.
  • Analysis: Analyze the data and describe the patterns or trends you observed.

VI. Discussion

  • Implications: Discuss the implications of your findings.
  • Limitations: Identify any limitations or weaknesses of the experiment.

VII. Conclusion

  • Restate hypothesis: Summarize your hypothesis or research question.
  • Review key points: Summarize the main points you made in your report.

Presentation template:

  • Attention grabber: Grab the audience’s attention with a catchy opening.
  • Purpose: Explain the purpose of your presentation.
  • Overview: Provide an overview of what you will cover in your presentation.

II. Main points

  • Main point 1: Present the first main point of your presentation.
  • Supporting details: Provide supporting details or evidence to support your point.
  • Main point 2: Present the second main point of your presentation.
  • Main point 3: Present the third main point of your presentation.
  • Summary: Summarize the main points of your presentation.
  • Call to action: End with a final thought or call to action.

Creative writing template:

  • Setting: Describe the setting of your story.
  • Characters: Introduce the main characters of your story.
  • Rising action: Introduce the conflict or problem in your story.
  • Climax: Present the most intense moment of the story.
  • Falling action: Resolve the conflict or problem in your story.
  • Resolution: Describe how the conflict or problem was resolved.
  • Final thoughts: End with a final thought or reflection on the story.

How to Write Assignment

Here is a general guide on how to write an assignment:

  • Understand the assignment prompt: Before you begin writing, make sure you understand what the assignment requires. Read the prompt carefully and make note of any specific requirements or guidelines.
  • Research and gather information: Depending on the type of assignment, you may need to do research to gather information to support your argument or points. Use credible sources such as academic journals, books, and reputable websites.
  • Organize your ideas : Once you have gathered all the necessary information, organize your ideas into a clear and logical structure. Consider creating an outline or diagram to help you visualize your ideas.
  • Write a draft: Begin writing your assignment using your organized ideas and research. Don’t worry too much about grammar or sentence structure at this point; the goal is to get your thoughts down on paper.
  • Revise and edit: After you have written a draft, revise and edit your work. Make sure your ideas are presented in a clear and concise manner, and that your sentences and paragraphs flow smoothly.
  • Proofread: Finally, proofread your work for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. It’s a good idea to have someone else read over your assignment as well to catch any mistakes you may have missed.
  • Submit your assignment : Once you are satisfied with your work, submit your assignment according to the instructions provided by your instructor or professor.

Applications of Assignment

Assignments have many applications across different fields and industries. Here are a few examples:

  • Education : Assignments are a common tool used in education to help students learn and demonstrate their knowledge. They can be used to assess a student’s understanding of a particular topic, to develop critical thinking skills, and to improve writing and research abilities.
  • Business : Assignments can be used in the business world to assess employee skills, to evaluate job performance, and to provide training opportunities. They can also be used to develop business plans, marketing strategies, and financial projections.
  • Journalism : Assignments are often used in journalism to produce news articles, features, and investigative reports. Journalists may be assigned to cover a particular event or topic, or to research and write a story on a specific subject.
  • Research : Assignments can be used in research to collect and analyze data, to conduct experiments, and to present findings in written or oral form. Researchers may be assigned to conduct research on a specific topic, to write a research paper, or to present their findings at a conference or seminar.
  • Government : Assignments can be used in government to develop policy proposals, to conduct research, and to analyze data. Government officials may be assigned to work on a specific project or to conduct research on a particular topic.
  • Non-profit organizations: Assignments can be used in non-profit organizations to develop fundraising strategies, to plan events, and to conduct research. Volunteers may be assigned to work on a specific project or to help with a particular task.

Purpose of Assignment

The purpose of an assignment varies depending on the context in which it is given. However, some common purposes of assignments include:

  • Assessing learning: Assignments are often used to assess a student’s understanding of a particular topic or concept. This allows educators to determine if a student has mastered the material or if they need additional support.
  • Developing skills: Assignments can be used to develop a wide range of skills, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, research, and communication. Assignments that require students to analyze and synthesize information can help to build these skills.
  • Encouraging creativity: Assignments can be designed to encourage students to be creative and think outside the box. This can help to foster innovation and original thinking.
  • Providing feedback : Assignments provide an opportunity for teachers to provide feedback to students on their progress and performance. Feedback can help students to understand where they need to improve and to develop a growth mindset.
  • Meeting learning objectives : Assignments can be designed to help students meet specific learning objectives or outcomes. For example, a writing assignment may be designed to help students improve their writing skills, while a research assignment may be designed to help students develop their research skills.

When to write Assignment

Assignments are typically given by instructors or professors as part of a course or academic program. The timing of when to write an assignment will depend on the specific requirements of the course or program, but in general, assignments should be completed within the timeframe specified by the instructor or program guidelines.

It is important to begin working on assignments as soon as possible to ensure enough time for research, writing, and revisions. Waiting until the last minute can result in rushed work and lower quality output.

It is also important to prioritize assignments based on their due dates and the amount of work required. This will help to manage time effectively and ensure that all assignments are completed on time.

In addition to assignments given by instructors or professors, there may be other situations where writing an assignment is necessary. For example, in the workplace, assignments may be given to complete a specific project or task. In these situations, it is important to establish clear deadlines and expectations to ensure that the assignment is completed on time and to a high standard.

Characteristics of Assignment

Here are some common characteristics of assignments:

  • Purpose : Assignments have a specific purpose, such as assessing knowledge or developing skills. They are designed to help students learn and achieve specific learning objectives.
  • Requirements: Assignments have specific requirements that must be met, such as a word count, format, or specific content. These requirements are usually provided by the instructor or professor.
  • Deadline: Assignments have a specific deadline for completion, which is usually set by the instructor or professor. It is important to meet the deadline to avoid penalties or lower grades.
  • Individual or group work: Assignments can be completed individually or as part of a group. Group assignments may require collaboration and communication with other group members.
  • Feedback : Assignments provide an opportunity for feedback from the instructor or professor. This feedback can help students to identify areas of improvement and to develop their skills.
  • Academic integrity: Assignments require academic integrity, which means that students must submit original work and avoid plagiarism. This includes citing sources properly and following ethical guidelines.
  • Learning outcomes : Assignments are designed to help students achieve specific learning outcomes. These outcomes are usually related to the course objectives and may include developing critical thinking skills, writing abilities, or subject-specific knowledge.

Advantages of Assignment

There are several advantages of assignment, including:

  • Helps in learning: Assignments help students to reinforce their learning and understanding of a particular topic. By completing assignments, students get to apply the concepts learned in class, which helps them to better understand and retain the information.
  • Develops critical thinking skills: Assignments often require students to think critically and analyze information in order to come up with a solution or answer. This helps to develop their critical thinking skills, which are important for success in many areas of life.
  • Encourages creativity: Assignments that require students to create something, such as a piece of writing or a project, can encourage creativity and innovation. This can help students to develop new ideas and perspectives, which can be beneficial in many areas of life.
  • Builds time-management skills: Assignments often come with deadlines, which can help students to develop time-management skills. Learning how to manage time effectively is an important skill that can help students to succeed in many areas of life.
  • Provides feedback: Assignments provide an opportunity for students to receive feedback on their work. This feedback can help students to identify areas where they need to improve and can help them to grow and develop.

Limitations of Assignment

There are also some limitations of assignments that should be considered, including:

  • Limited scope: Assignments are often limited in scope, and may not provide a comprehensive understanding of a particular topic. They may only cover a specific aspect of a topic, and may not provide a full picture of the subject matter.
  • Lack of engagement: Some assignments may not engage students in the learning process, particularly if they are repetitive or not challenging enough. This can lead to a lack of motivation and interest in the subject matter.
  • Time-consuming: Assignments can be time-consuming, particularly if they require a lot of research or writing. This can be a disadvantage for students who have other commitments, such as work or extracurricular activities.
  • Unreliable assessment: The assessment of assignments can be subjective and may not always accurately reflect a student’s understanding or abilities. The grading may be influenced by factors such as the instructor’s personal biases or the student’s writing style.
  • Lack of feedback : Although assignments can provide feedback, this feedback may not always be detailed or useful. Instructors may not have the time or resources to provide detailed feedback on every assignment, which can limit the value of the feedback that students receive.

About the author

' src=

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

You may also like

Research Paper Conclusion

Research Paper Conclusion – Writing Guide and...

Appendices

Appendices – Writing Guide, Types and Examples

Research Report

Research Report – Example, Writing Guide and...

Delimitations

Delimitations in Research – Types, Examples and...

Scope of the Research

Scope of the Research – Writing Guide and...

Research Contribution

Research Contribution – Thesis Guide

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

  • Knowledge Base
  • Starting the research process
  • Research Objectives | Definition & Examples

Research Objectives | Definition & Examples

Published on July 12, 2022 by Eoghan Ryan . Revised on November 20, 2023.

Research objectives describe what your research is trying to achieve and explain why you are pursuing it. They summarize the approach and purpose of your project and help to focus your research.

Your objectives should appear in the introduction of your research paper , at the end of your problem statement . They should:

  • Establish the scope and depth of your project
  • Contribute to your research design
  • Indicate how your project will contribute to existing knowledge

Table of contents

What is a research objective, why are research objectives important, how to write research aims and objectives, smart research objectives, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about research objectives.

Research objectives describe what your research project intends to accomplish. They should guide every step of the research process , including how you collect data , build your argument , and develop your conclusions .

Your research objectives may evolve slightly as your research progresses, but they should always line up with the research carried out and the actual content of your paper.

Research aims

A distinction is often made between research objectives and research aims.

A research aim typically refers to a broad statement indicating the general purpose of your research project. It should appear at the end of your problem statement, before your research objectives.

Your research objectives are more specific than your research aim and indicate the particular focus and approach of your project. Though you will only have one research aim, you will likely have several research objectives.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Research objectives are important because they:

  • Establish the scope and depth of your project: This helps you avoid unnecessary research. It also means that your research methods and conclusions can easily be evaluated .
  • Contribute to your research design: When you know what your objectives are, you have a clearer idea of what methods are most appropriate for your research.
  • Indicate how your project will contribute to extant research: They allow you to display your knowledge of up-to-date research, employ or build on current research methods, and attempt to contribute to recent debates.

Once you’ve established a research problem you want to address, you need to decide how you will address it. This is where your research aim and objectives come in.

Step 1: Decide on a general aim

Your research aim should reflect your research problem and should be relatively broad.

Step 2: Decide on specific objectives

Break down your aim into a limited number of steps that will help you resolve your research problem. What specific aspects of the problem do you want to examine or understand?

Step 3: Formulate your aims and objectives

Once you’ve established your research aim and objectives, you need to explain them clearly and concisely to the reader.

You’ll lay out your aims and objectives at the end of your problem statement, which appears in your introduction. Frame them as clear declarative statements, and use appropriate verbs to accurately characterize the work that you will carry out.

The acronym “SMART” is commonly used in relation to research objectives. It states that your objectives should be:

  • Specific: Make sure your objectives aren’t overly vague. Your research needs to be clearly defined in order to get useful results.
  • Measurable: Know how you’ll measure whether your objectives have been achieved.
  • Achievable: Your objectives may be challenging, but they should be feasible. Make sure that relevant groundwork has been done on your topic or that relevant primary or secondary sources exist. Also ensure that you have access to relevant research facilities (labs, library resources , research databases , etc.).
  • Relevant: Make sure that they directly address the research problem you want to work on and that they contribute to the current state of research in your field.
  • Time-based: Set clear deadlines for objectives to ensure that the project stays on track.

Here's why students love Scribbr's proofreading services

Discover proofreading & editing

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Methodology

  • Sampling methods
  • Simple random sampling
  • Stratified sampling
  • Cluster sampling
  • Likert scales
  • Reproducibility

 Statistics

  • Null hypothesis
  • Statistical power
  • Probability distribution
  • Effect size
  • Poisson distribution

Research bias

  • Optimism bias
  • Cognitive bias
  • Implicit bias
  • Hawthorne effect
  • Anchoring bias
  • Explicit bias

Research objectives describe what you intend your research project to accomplish.

They summarize the approach and purpose of the project and help to focus your research.

Your objectives should appear in the introduction of your research paper , at the end of your problem statement .

Your research objectives indicate how you’ll try to address your research problem and should be specific:

Once you’ve decided on your research objectives , you need to explain them in your paper, at the end of your problem statement .

Keep your research objectives clear and concise, and use appropriate verbs to accurately convey the work that you will carry out for each one.

I will compare …

A research aim is a broad statement indicating the general purpose of your research project. It should appear in your introduction at the end of your problem statement , before your research objectives.

Research objectives are more specific than your research aim. They indicate the specific ways you’ll address the overarching aim.

Scope of research is determined at the beginning of your research process , prior to the data collection stage. Sometimes called “scope of study,” your scope delineates what will and will not be covered in your project. It helps you focus your work and your time, ensuring that you’ll be able to achieve your goals and outcomes.

Defining a scope can be very useful in any research project, from a research proposal to a thesis or dissertation . A scope is needed for all types of research: quantitative , qualitative , and mixed methods .

To define your scope of research, consider the following:

  • Budget constraints or any specifics of grant funding
  • Your proposed timeline and duration
  • Specifics about your population of study, your proposed sample size , and the research methodology you’ll pursue
  • Any inclusion and exclusion criteria
  • Any anticipated control , extraneous , or confounding variables that could bias your research if not accounted for properly.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Ryan, E. (2023, November 20). Research Objectives | Definition & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved February 22, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/research-process/research-objectives/

Is this article helpful?

Eoghan Ryan

Eoghan Ryan

Other students also liked, writing strong research questions | criteria & examples, how to write a problem statement | guide & examples, what is your plagiarism score.

  • Project management |
  • How to write an effective project objec ...

How to write an effective project objective, with examples

Julia Martins contributor headshot

You finished your project, now what?

If you don’t have a system in place to know what your project objectives are, you don’t have an easy way to know: Did your project succeed? Did you hit your goals? Or did you miss your target?

What are project objectives?

Project objectives are what you plan to achieve by the end of your project. This might include deliverables and assets, or more intangible objectives like increasing productivity or motivation. Your project objectives should be attainable, time-bound, specific goals you can measure at the end of your project.

Project objectives are a critical element of  project management —without them, you don’t have a succinct way to communicate your goals before and during the project, nor do you have a measurable way to evaluate your success after the project ends.

If you’re just getting started with project objectives, here’s how they differ from other project management elements:

Project objectives vs. project goals

Though some teams may use these interchangeably, there is a distinct difference between project goals vs. objectives . In general, project goals are higher-level than project objectives. Your project goals should outline what happens once your project is successful, and how your project aligns with overall business objectives.

Project objectives, on the other hand, are more detailed and specific than project goals. Though many project objectives may impact business objectives, your project objectives are more focused on your actual, specific deliverables at the end of the project.

Example of a project objective:  Add five new ways for customers to find the feedback form in-product within the next two months.

Example of a project goal:  Make it easier for the engineering team to receive and respond to customer feedback.

Project objectives vs. business objectives

Project objectives are just that—objectives and performance indicators for individual projects. Your project objectives should apply to the project they’re about, and they should be specific enough to guide your team in evaluating project success.

Business objectives are bigger than a single project. Unlike project objectives, your business objectives will fuel your business trajectory and velocity. Your business objectives should be long-term guidelines for your entire company or department. They will guide your company goals for a quarter or year, and they should be written in whatever goal-setting methodology your team uses, like  objectives and key results (OKRs) .

Example of a project objective:  Increase our company Net Promoter Score (NPS) to 62 by the end of the quarter.

Example of a business objective:  Become the premier service provider in our category.

Project objectives vs. project plan

Your project plan is a blueprint of the key elements your team needs to accomplish in order to successfully achieve your project goals and objectives. However, your project plan should include several additional key elements, like your project stakeholders, deliverables, timeline, and more.

Plan to create your project objectives before working on your project plan, since your objectives will likely drive other elements of your project plan, like deliverables and success metrics. But once your project objectives are written, you’ll likely share them with stakeholders by way of the project plan.

Example of a project objective:  Increase click through rate (CTR) engagement on email by 10% by the end of Q3.

Example of a project plan:  See an example plan in our  guide to project planning .

Project objectives vs. project milestones

At first glance, “objectives” and “milestones” sound like the same thing—they’re both targets within a project. But project milestones, in general, should be smaller in scope than project objectives.

A  project milestone  is a checkpoint that marks a specific achievement in your project timeline. Milestones themselves don’t represent work—rather, they record the accomplishment of a group of tasks or deliverables. While project milestones are important, your project objectives encompass your whole project.

Example of a project objective:  Obtain 20,000 RSVPs to our virtual event before the closing date for signups (June 23rd).

Example of a project milestone:  June 8th, 2021: Web page promotion upcoming virtual event goes live.

Project objectives vs. project deliverables

Project deliverables  are the assets you want to have at the end of your project—in a marketing campaign, for example, a deliverable could be a new ad or a web page. In general, your project objectives will define what your deliverables are—but your objectives should also be broader than your deliverables.

In addition to capturing deliverables, your project objectives will also define the benefits and outcomes to come from those deliverables, especially as they relate to the grander scheme of your project goals and business objectives.

Example of a project objective:  Reduce monthly customer churn to >1% before the end of the year.

Example of a deliverable:  Launch winback campaign for all lapsed customers.

The benefits of project objectives

A clear project objective helps you know where you’re going with your project. Without a project objective, you don’t have an easy way to know if your project succeeded or failed—nor can you plan improvements for the next project you work on.

When team members don’t have a clear sense of how their work fits into the larger project and company goals, they’re less motivated and less engaged. According to the  Asana Goals Report , only 26% of knowledge workers have a clear understanding of how their individual work contributes toward company goals. Granted, your project objectives aren’t company goals—but they’re the middle step that connects individual work to your project work to your company goals.

So when you have clearly-defined project objectives, your team members can consistently evaluate their work and refocus on the objectives if they’ve gotten misaligned. Think of your objectives as a compass to help your team continue moving in the right direction.

5 tips to write great project objectives

The secret to writing great project objectives is to create objectives that are clearly written and helpful. You can do this by using the SMART methodology , which stands for:

For a full walkthrough of this methodology, read our article to learn how to write better SMART goals .

1. Set your project objectives at the beginning of your project

In order for your objectives to guide the results of the project, you need to set them at the beginning and use them to guide your project. As we mentioned earlier, your project objectives are a key element of your  project plan , which you should also create at the beginning of your project.

2. Involve your project team in the goal-setting process

The more buy-in you get, the more successful your project objectives will be. Your stakeholders need to have a clear understanding of the objectives of the project, so they can approach the rest of your project plan and the work that happens during the project most effectively.

3. Create brief, but clear, project objective statements

If this is your first time writing a project objective, you may be tempted to outline every detail—but try to keep your project objective short if you can. Think of it as a statement to guide the results of your project—your project objective statement should be about one to two sentences long. The additional information, like your project budget or stakeholders, will be captured in your project plan.

4. Make sure your objectives are things you can control

This is where the SMART acronym comes in to play to help you create clearly-defined, realistic, and controllable project objectives. There are five elements to this framework:

Specific.  Make sure your project objective statement clearly covers the project your team is currently working on. Avoid writing overly broad project objectives that don’t directly connect to the result of the project.

Measurable.  At the end of your project, you need a way to clearly look back and determine if your project was a success. Make sure your project objectives are clearly measurable things—like percentage change or a specific number of assets.

Achievable.  Are your project objectives something you can reasonably hope to achieve within your project? this is connected to your project scope —if your project scope is unrealistic, your project objectives likely will be, too. Without Achievable project goals, your project may suffer from  scope creep , delays, or overwork.

Realistic.  When you’re creating your project objectives, you should have a general sense of your  project resources . Make sure your objectives are something you can achieve within the time frame and with the resources you have available for this project.

Time-bound.  Your project objectives should take into account how long your project timeline is. Make sure you factor in the time you have available to work on your project.

5. Check in on your project objectives during the project’s lifecycle

Employees who understand how their individual work adds value to their organization are  2X as motivated . In order to keep your team aligned and motivated, make sure to check in and update them on your project objectives frequently. In your  project status reports , include a section that connects back to your project objectives. Share whether your current project is on track, at risk, or off track. That way, your project team can recalibrate if necessary and move forward in a way that best contributes to your project objectives.

Examples of good and bad project objectives

It’s not easy to write a project objective, and it’ll take time for you to get in the groove of writing these for your projects. That’s ok! Check out these three examples of good and bad objectives to help you write your own:

Example 1: Business project objective

Bad: Launch new home page.

This project objective is missing many important characteristics. Though this objective is measurable, achievable, and realistic, it’s not specific or time-bound. When should the home page be live? What should the redesign focus on?

Good: Create net-new home page assets and copy, focusing on four customer stories and use cases. Launch refreshed, customer-centric home page by the end of Q2.

This project objective is solid. It’s specific ( create net-new home page assets and copy ), measurable ( launch refreshed, customer-centric home page ), achievable and realistic ( focusing on four customer stories and use cases ), and time bound ( by the end of Q2 ).

Example 2: Nonprofit project objective

Bad: Increase sustainability in our production process by 5%

Though this project objective is more specific than the previous bad example, it’s still lacking several important characteristics. This objective is measurable ( by 5% ), but it’s not specific or time-bound, since we don’t specify what “sustainability” means or by when the production process should improve. As a result, we don’t really know if it’s achievable or realistic.

Good: Reduce operational waste by 5% and increase use of recycled products by 20% in the next 12 weeks.

This project objective builds upon the previous one, because we now have a specific objective. This project objective also includes a way to measure the goal ( by 5%... by 20% ). The objective is a little ambitious, but the fact that it’s time-bound ( in the next 12 weeks ) makes it both achievable and realistic.

Example 3: Personal project objective

Bad: Improve performance reviews

Believe it or not, most personal project objectives aren’t specific or measurable. That’s because we have a hard time turning success metrics inwards, onto ourselves. But in order to know if we improved and achieved our personal goals, we need to create a clearer project objective.

Good: Get at least a 4/5 on both the March and September performance reviews in 2021.

Here, we have a project objective that checks all of the right boxes: it’s specific ( get at least a 4/5 ), measurable ( 4/5 ), achievable and realistic ( 4/5 gives us room for any unanticipated difficulties ), and time-bound ( in 2021 ).

Objectively speaking, project objectives are a good idea

Setting a project objective can help your team gain clarity, align on work, and get more work done. But remember: project objectives are just one part of your overall project plan. To learn more about how you can increase clarity and alignment during the project planning stage, read our guide to  writing project plans .

Related resources

how to write assignment objectives

What is stakeholder analysis and why is it important?

how to write assignment objectives

7 causes of content calendar chaos—and how to solve them

how to write assignment objectives

What is a product launch? A guide from planning to execution

how to write assignment objectives

What is resource management? A guide to getting started

  • Contact sales

Start free trial

How to Write Effective Project Objectives Every Time

ProjectManager

Table of Contents

What are project objectives, project objectives vs. project goals, project objectives vs. project milestones, project objectives vs. project deliverables, why are project objectives important, how to write smart project objectives.

  • Examples of Project Objectives

ProjectManager for Better Project Objectives

A project has a beginning and an end, but without an objective, it’s a rudderless ship. In order to steer your project successfully and land in a safe harbor, you’re going to have to define your project objectives.

Project objectives define the critical steps that must be taken to successfully execute a project plan . Project objectives can be tangible deliverables or intangible milestones, but they should always be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timebound) and related to your broader project goals.

Project objectives allow you to communicate with your team and outline what individuals are responsible for what objectives to better meet stakeholder quality expectations. Your objectives should contain KPI metrics such as budget, quality and how long it takes to finish the project.

To keep track of project objectives, you’ll need a robust project management tool such as ProjectManager. ProjectManager is project management software that offers professional project tracking tools such as Gantt charts, task lists, calendars and real-time dashboards. ProjectManager allows you to track, manage and control project objectives with ease. Get started for free.

ProjectManager's dashboard view

Before we learn how to write project objectives, we need to define terms. Many confuse the concept of project objectives with related project management concepts such as project goals, deliverables and milestones.

Project goals are high-level statements that can be somewhat vague. They do, however, provide overall context for what the project is set to achieve and how it aligns with business goals.

There are different types of project goals such as performance goals, time goals (referring to start and end dates) and resource goals . These three types of project goals compete with one another so a variable with one will impact the others.

Objectives are much more specific and straightforward as they influence every decision in the project. Project objectives can also be defined as the steps that need to be taken to achieve the high-level view of project goals.

Project milestones mark an important point in time in your project, often marking the beginning of a new project phase. There can be as many milestones in your project plan as you see fit. They’re beneficial as they break down your project plan into more digestible parts.

Project deliverables are the outputs from your project activities. There can be as many project deliverables as you need in your project. Project deliverables take many forms, such as a product, service or even a finished infrastructure project.

Undoubtedly, effective objectives are important. The clearer your project objectives, the more likely they are to be achieved. Plus, your project will be that much easier to manage.

Objectives are crucial as they offer a way to structure the project and validate its success. Think of these objectives as the guidelines that your project must follow. They steer you through every aspect of the project and its phases. They offer project managers measurable targets to hit and make teams understand what’s expected of them.

Each project objective needs to meet the SMART criteria . This acronym will guide you to effective objectives.

How? By making sure each objective is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound.

That means defining the objective and making sure that there’s a metric to measure its progress so you can tell if it’s meeting your baseline expectations.

Your project objectives must be achievable or they’ll be impossible to reach, resulting in wasted time and resources. Make sure to be realistic with your objectives and ensure they are relevant to both the project and the organizational strategy of the business.

Lastly, your objective must have a deadline through a time constraint; it can’t be open-ended. It could be time-bound by months, weeks or days depending on the specifics of your project.

Project Objectives Examples

1. customer satisfaction.

Project Goal: Increase the overall satisfaction level for customers by submitting support tickets through the website. Project Objective: Implement a new online ticketing system by a certain date to achieve ticket response times of no more than an hour

Now, run it through SMART: is it specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound? If it meets these criteria, then it’s a SMART project objective.

In terms of the goal, how will it be reflected in performance, time and resources? You’ll also want to consider if this goal is in alignment with the corporate strategy.

2. New Product

Project Goal: Create a new product to be launched at the beginning of next quarter such as a pair of shoes. Project Objectives: In this case, there are several project objectives related to that goal. Here are some project objectives examples.

  • Conduct market research about the preferences of your target market
  • Develop a product vision
  • Create a prototype of the final product
  • Test it for performance with athlete focus groups
  • Create the final version of the product

Project Goal: Increase sales by 30 percent in the next quarter. Project Objectives: In this case, there are several project objectives related to the goal. Here are some project objectives examples.

  • Use new strategies to increase leads from the marketing team by 10 percent
  • Hire two new sales representatives
  • Launch a loyalty rewards program
  • Open one new distribution channel by the beginning of next quarter

If you’re looking to define and achieve your project objectives, you need a dynamic project management tool. ProjectManager is work and project management software that tracks your objectives and goals with real-time metrics on our dashboard. With our software, SMART goals are easy to establish, track and achieve.

Filter reports to show the data you want and generated shareable reports for stakeholders with just one click. Utilize our resource management tools to balance your workload and keep the project on track. Our online Gantt charts schedule over a timeline and can be easily edited by dragging and dropping start and due dates.

A screenshot of a gantt chart in ProjectManager

More About Project Objectives

What is your project about? The project objective states this before the project initiation. It will be a document you return to over and over again in the project in order to stay the course. This is true whether you’re working waterfall or within an agile framework.

The project objective is essential as it’s designed to help your team, the stakeholder (especially as they request changes) and the project manager. If you want that project objective to be as effective as possible, watch this short video by our resident project management expert, Jennifer Bridges, PMP.

Here’s a screenshot for your reference.

How to Write Effective Project Objectives Every Time

Pro Tip: Don’t neglect business objectives . If the objective of the project isn’t aligned with the company strategy, then it’s not going to be effective.

Thanks for watching!

Transcription:

Today, we’re talking about how to write effective project objectives every time. Well, I find sometimes people struggle with writing objectives because they get them confused with goals and even the vision. So I wanna start by clarifying what each one of these terms means.

So the vision statement is the highest level statement. What it’s doing, it’s showing direction and aspiration. It may or may not even be achieved, but the goals are, they’re more vague, but they’re still high level, they provide the overall context for what the project is to achieve and aligns with the business goals.

The objectives are a lower level statement, they describe the desired result of the project and they describe specific tangible products and deliverables that the project will deliver. So the goals are more vague and the objectives are a little bit more specific.

So why do we care about effective objectives?

Well, managing a project calls for clear objectives. The more clear you can get your objectives, then the more likely you are to achieve them. So they’re used to structure the project and validate your success. So how do we make those objectives more effective?

Well, we use the SMART technique. So SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. So when we talk about projects and we talk about goals and objectives, Here’s an example.

So if a goal for a project could be to increase the overall satisfaction of customers submitting support tickets through the website, that would be the overall goal of the project.

So one specific objective would be to implement a new online ticketing system by August 1st to achieve ticket response times of no more than one hour. So let’s check it out. So is it SMART?

So it’s very specific, it tells you exactly what’s going to happen, by what time, and what results you’re going to gain. It’s also measurable. You can measure the ticket response times, and make sure they don’t exceed one hour.

They’re also achievable by using this ticketing system, they are able to be achieved and they’re realistic for your team. And also time-bound, you know you’re going to implement this by August 1st. So now you can see the difference between the goal and how the objective helps support that goal.

If you need a project planning tool that can help you document your objectives, structure your project, and validate your success, then sign up for our software now at ProjectManager.

Click here to browse ProjectManager's free templates

Deliver your projects on time and under budget

Start planning your projects.

how to write assignment objectives

IST 614: MANAGEMENT OF LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION CENTERS

Bauer, David G., The "How To" Grants Manual; Successful Grantseeking Techniques for Obtaining Public and Private Grants. 3rd ed. Oryx Press, 1995. [NOTE: Earlier editions probably contain much the same thing]
"To [action verb and statement relfecting your measurement indicator] by [performance standard] by [deadline] at a cost of no more than [cost frame]."
"To increase the reading scores of freshmen in Brown University's Minority Skills Program from the 80th to the 90th percentile on the Flockmann reading scale in 12 months at a cost of $50,000."

How do I write this? My objectives are counting from 1 to 100 and...

How do I write this? My objectives are counting from 1 to 100 and identifying and counting numbers. The targeted teaching activities include number chart exploration, writing number practice, and counting. Assessments would be in worksheets.

Answer & Explanation

i hope this will help

My targets are counting from 1 to 100 and recognizing and counting numbers. The designated showing exercises incorporate number diagram investigation, composing number practice, and then some. Evaluations would be on worksheets.

They will count with understanding and perceive "the number of" in sets of articles. count, with and without objects, forward and in reverse, to no less than 10. perceive that a number can be utilized to address the number of items that are in a set or to address the place of an article in a succession.

Figuring out how to build up to 100 can be a troublesome undertaking for a kindergartener. Here are a few stages you can take to separate it for yourself and make it a little simpler.

First, assemble 100 things that are effectively available at your home that your kid could count (Q-tips, beans, Cheerios, and so on.)

Bunch the things into a number that your youngster can undoubtedly build up to. 10 is an incredible spot to begin. Most kindergarteners ought to have the option to build up to 10 around this time of year without any problem.

Train your kid to count by 10's by gathering the things into ten gatherings of ten. Bunch the things into 5's and show your kid how to count by 5's the whole way to 100.

Then, at that point, bunch the things into groups of 2 and show your youngster how to count by 2's. This can get trickier when you get up beyond 20.

Gathering the things makes the amount look less scary. Gathering the things likewise permits your kid to count the 100 things quicker. Your kid ought to have the option to get on counting by 10's quickly.

Counting assortments help small kids foster balanced correspondence by giving one number word to one item while counting. Having pots, plates, and sacks to count into can assist kids with moving each thing in turn, realizing that every one of the items included so far is in the holder.

Number acknowledgment isn't just about distinguishing numbers; it is tied in with grasping their importance and applying them in different settings. Capability in number acknowledgment empowers understudies to perform numerical activities, tackle issues, and make associations among numbers and genuine circumstances.

to provide what is best and to understand more about the student's concern for their topics

Related Q&A

  • Q  . Tel Quizzes - Fall 2023 Money, Bank x G intermediate term time - Google x + t/quiz_start_frame_auto.d21?ou=134471&amp... Answered over 90d ago
  • Q George Orwell: More than Talking Farm Animals
Read "Politics and the English Language," linked here. Orwell published th... Answered over 90d ago
  • Q This concept is one of the building blocks of the criminal justice system.  Please respond to  Question #3, Test Your Un... Answered over 90d ago
  • Q For Tax Year 2021, Marty and Jean are married and have 4-year-old twins. Jean is going to school full-time for 10 months... Answered over 90d ago
  • Q What is a successful 2nd grade writer's workshop lesson plan that includes a mini lesson, a literacy connection, and con... Answered 33d ago
  • Q 1. Why is Practicum required in the DrPH program of study? 2. What is the length of the PH Practicum experience? 3. What... Answered over 90d ago
  • Q  . 6. Using a payoff matrix to determine the equilibrium outcome Suppose that Snapface and Instashot are the only two fi... Answered over 90d ago
  • Q Who was involved in the abolitionist movement? In what ways do you think abolitionists differed on the strategies and go... Answered over 90d ago
  • Q Roo-Fus Inc. wants to expand its operations internationally by selling its kangaroo-based dog food in new European marke... Answered over 90d ago
  • Q please ignore the problem showing up. question 4 is the main problem. f(x) =3x*-2x7 +5x-10; c= -5. See Section 3.3 Examp... Answered over 90d ago
  • Q Part A and B please . (11%) Problem 3: Two children pull a third child backwards on a snow-saucer sled exerting forces F... Answered 23d ago
  • Q What do you think about a green dancing Octopus with PhD in English Lit. Set the story in Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX office... Answered 60d ago
  • Q When researching school counselor's perceptions of the implementations of social and emotional learning programs without... Answered 44d ago
  • Q Concert Report Directions - Specific   What to write about: describe how the music made you feel describe what in the mu... Answered over 90d ago
  • Q referencing Banasik, J. (2022). Pathophysiology (7th ed.). Interruption in blood flow to the brain can be grouped as a t... Answered over 90d ago
  • Q Some of the evolutions that have taken place in adolescents in my own experience. As for I have read in the article ther... Answered over 90d ago
  • Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Guest Essay

The Most Important Writing Exercise I’ve Ever Assigned

An illustration of several houses. One person walks away from a house with a second person isolated in a window.

By Rachel Kadish

Ms. Kadish is the author of the novel “The Weight of Ink.”

“Write down a phrase you find abhorrent — something you yourself would never say.”

My students looked startled, but they cooperated. They knew I wouldn’t collect this exercise; what they wrote would be private unless they chose to share it. All that was required of them was participation.

In silence they jotted down a few words. So far, so good. We hadn’t yet reached the hard request: Spend 10 minutes writing a monologue in the first person that’s spoken by a fictitious character who makes the upsetting statement. This portion typically elicits nervous glances. When that happens, I remind students that their statement doesn’t represent them and that speaking as if they’re someone else is a basic skill of fiction writers. The troubling statement, I explain, must appear in the monologue, and it shouldn’t be minimized, nor should students feel the need to forgive or account for it. What’s required is simply that somewhere in the monologue there be an instant — even a fleeting phrase — in which we can feel empathy for the speaker. Perhaps she’s sick with worry over an ill grandchild. Perhaps he’s haunted by a love he let slip away. Perhaps she’s sleepless over how to keep her business afloat and her employees paid. Done right, the exercise delivers a one-two punch: repugnance for a behavior or worldview coupled with recognition of shared humanity.

For more than two decades, I’ve taught versions of this fiction-writing exercise. I’ve used it in universities, middle schools and private workshops, with 7-year-olds and 70-year-olds. But in recent years openness to this exercise and to the imaginative leap it’s designed to teach has shrunk to a pinprick. As our country’s public conversation has gotten angrier, I’ve noticed that students’ approach to the exercise has become more brittle, regardless of whether students lean right or left.

Each semester, I wonder whether the aperture through which we allow empathy has so drastically narrowed as to foreclose a full view of our fellow human beings. Maybe there are times so contentious or so painful that people simply withdraw to their own silos. I’ve certainly felt that inward pull myself. There are times when a leap into someone else’s perspective feels impossible.

But leaping is the job of the writer, and there’s no point it doing it halfway. Good fiction pulls off a magic trick of absurd power: It makes us care. Responding to the travails of invented characters — Ahab or Amaranta, Sethe or Stevens, Zooey or Zorba — we might tear up or laugh, or our hearts might pound. As readers, we become invested in these people, which is very different from agreeing with or even liking them. In the best literature, characters are so vivid, complicated, contradictory and even maddening that we’ll follow them far from our preconceptions; sometimes we don’t return.

Unflinching empathy, which is the muscle the lesson is designed to exercise, is a prerequisite for literature strong enough to wrestle with the real world. On the page it allows us to spot signs of humanity; off the page it can teach us to start a conversation with the strangest of strangers, to thrive alongside difference. It can even affect those life-or-death choices we make instinctively in a crisis. This kind of empathy has nothing to do with being nice, and it’s not for the faint of heart.

Even within the safety of the page, it’s tempting to dodge empathy’s challenge, instead demonizing villains and idealizing heroes, but that’s when the needle on art’s moral compass goes inert. Then we’re navigating blind: confident that we know what the bad people look like and that they’re not us — and therefore we’re at no risk of error.

Our best writers, in contrast, portray humans in their full complexity. This is what Gish Jen is doing in the short story “Who’s Irish?” and Rohinton Mistry in the novel “A Fine Balance.” Line by line, these writers illuminate the inner worlds of characters who cause harm — which is not the same as forgiving them. No one would ever say that Toni Morrison forgives the character Cholly Breedlove, who rapes his daughter in “The Bluest Eye.” What Ms. Morrison accomplishes instead is the boldest act of moral and emotional understanding I’ve ever seen on the page.

In the classroom exercise, the upsetting phrases my students scribble might be personal (“You’ll never be a writer,” “You’re ugly”) or religious or political. Once a student wrote a phrase condemning abortion as another student across the table wrote a phrase defending it. Sometimes there are stereotypes, slurs — whatever the students choose to grapple with. Of course, it’s disturbing to step into the shoes of someone whose words or deeds repel us. Writing these monologues, my graduate students, who know what “first person” means, will dodge and write in third, with the distanced “he said” instead of “I said.”

But if they can withstand the challenges of first person, sometimes something happens. They emerge shaken and eager to expand on what they’ve written. I look up from tidying my notes to discover students lingering after dismissal with that alert expression that says the exercise made them feel something they needed to feel.

Over the years, as my students’ statements became more political and as jargon (“deplorables,” “snowflakes”) supplanted the language of personal experience, I adapted the exercise. Worrying that I’d been too sanguine about possible pitfalls, I made it entirely silent, so no student would have to hear another’s troubling statement or fear being judged for their own. Any students who wanted to share their monologues with me could stay after class rather than read to the group. Later, I added another caveat: If your troubling statement is so offensive, you can’t imagine the person who says it as a full human being, choose something less troubling. Next, I narrowed the parameters: No politics. The pandemic’s virtual classes made risk taking harder; I moved the exercise deeper into the semester so students would feel more at ease.

After one session, a student stayed behind in the virtual meeting room. She’d failed to include empathy in her monologue about a character whose politics she abhorred. Her omission bothered her. I was impressed by her honesty. She’d constructed a caricature and recognized it. Most of us don’t.

For years, I’ve quietly completed the exercise alongside my students. Some days nothing sparks. When it goes well, though, the experience is disquieting. The hard part, it turns out, isn’t the empathy itself but what follows: the annihilating notion that people whose fears or joys or humor I appreciate may themselves be indifferent to all my cherished conceptions of the world.

Then the 10-minute timer sounds, and I haul myself back to the business of the classroom — shaken by the vastness of the world but more curious about the people in it. I put my trust in that curiosity. What better choice does any of us have? And in the sanctuary of my classroom I keep trying, handing along what literature handed me: the small, sturdy magic trick any of us can work, as long as we’re willing to risk it.

Rachel Kadish is the author of the novel “The Weight of Ink.”

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , X and Threads .

IMAGES

  1. Ultimate Guide To Project Objectives & How To Actually Write Them

    how to write assignment objectives

  2. Learn How to Write an Assignment Plan and Earn Better Grades!

    how to write assignment objectives

  3. GOAL SETTING Template > 2-Steps for Achieving Student Assignment

    how to write assignment objectives

  4. How to Write Effective Project Objectives

    how to write assignment objectives

  5. What Are Project Objectives + Examples And How To Write Them (2023)

    how to write assignment objectives

  6. Project Brief, Aims, and Objectives

    how to write assignment objectives

VIDEO

  1. How to Write Lesson Objectives

  2. How to write Objectives for Proposal or Dissertation

  3. How to write assignment in scientific method part 3

  4. How to write assignment in scientific method part 1

  5. how to write an assignment in 5 minutes

  6. How to Write Learning Objectives

COMMENTS

  1. How to Write Objectives

    Writing project objectives should follow these principles: Start early: It is important to set your project objectives at the beginning of your project to avoid unexpected situations and employees misunderstanding.

  2. Writing Measurable Course Objectives

    Here's a good formula for writing objectives: Start your course objectives with: By the end of the course, students will be able to: Choose an action verb that corresponds to the specific action you wish students to demonstrate Explain the knowledge students are expected to acquire or construct

  3. How To Write Objectives for Learning (With Examples)

    How to write objectives for learning Here are some steps you could follow to develop clear and concise learning objectives: 1. Reflect on important skills for students to develop Learning objectives typically discuss the abilities learners gain from taking your workshop or course.

  4. Creating Writing Assignments: Articulating Objectives

    Simply put, this classification system (presented in greater detail on the page Taxonomy of Learning Objectives) consists of six different levels of cognitive skills, starting with the simplest, lower-order thinking skills of knowledge or comprehension and moving to cognitive skills that demonstrate higher-order thinking skills such as an abilit...

  5. PDF Strategies for Essay Writing

    When you are writing an essay for a course assignment, you should make sure you understand what type of claim you are being asked to make. Many of your assignments will be asking you to make analytical claims, which are based on interpretation of facts, data, or sources. Some of your assignments may ask you to make normative claims. Normative ...

  6. PDF WRITING INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES

    Instructional objectives are written for the student and they state what the student is expected to do following instruction. Objectives are specific, observable, and measurable learning outcomes. In contrast, goals are general and non-specific.

  7. Writing Course Goals/Learning Outcomes and Learning Objectives

    Overview The goal is where we want to be. The objectives are the steps needed to get there. As seen in this flow chart, the outcome and the learning objectives connect you with (and among) your students, the course content, assignments, and your teaching approach. Example Learning Objectives

  8. Creating Writing Assignments: Taxonomy of Learning Objectives

    Remembering (recalling) appropriate, previously learned information, such as terminology or specific facts. Verbs to use in assignments to have students demonstrate knowledge: define; describe; enumerate; identify; label; list; match; name; read; record; reproduce; select; state; view. Example: Ask your students to do a free-write in class, in ...

  9. Resources for Teachers: Creating Writing Assignments

    Instructors can often help students write more effective papers by giving students written instructions about that assignment. Explicit descriptions of assignments on the syllabus or on an "assignment sheet" tend to produce the best results. These instructions might make explicit the process or steps necessary to complete the assignment.

  10. Designing Effective Writing Assignments

    Designing Effective Writing Assignments. One of the best ways for students to determine what they know, think, and believe about a given subject is to write about it. To support students in their writing, it is important to provide them with a meaningful writing task, one that has an authentic purpose, clear guidelines, and engages students in ...

  11. How to Write Well-Defined Learning Objectives

    Well-defined learning objectives outline the desired outcome for learners, which will help specify the instructional method. For example, if we want the learners to demonstrate correct intubation procedure in a normal adult 100% of the time, we need the instructional method to involve some sort of hands-on experience so that learners can ...

  12. Designing Assignments for Learning

    Write for a real audience (e.g., a memo, a policy brief, letter to the editor, a grant proposal, reports, building a website) and/or publication; Solve problem sets that have real world application; Design projects that address a real world problem; Engage in a community-partnered research project;

  13. Creating Assignments

    To determine assignments that truly serve your course objectives, it is useful to write out your objectives in this form: I want my students to be able to ____. Use active, measurable verbs as you complete that sentence (e.g., compare theories, discuss ramifications, recommend strategies), and your learning objectives will point you towards ...

  14. How to Write Learning Objectives

    How to Write Learning Objectives. UW Distance Learning courses have several important features in common: clear learning objectives; a comprehensive introduction to the course; materials and resources that provide the course content; a series of individual lessons, each containing an assignment or exercise; and at least one final assessment. ...

  15. How to Write an Effective Assignment

    All assignments, from ungraded formative response papers all the way up to a capstone assignment, should include the following components to ensure that students and teachers understand not only the learning objective of the assignment, but also the discrete steps which they will need to follow in order to complete it successfully: Preamble.

  16. The Guide to Writing Learning Objectives

    Learning outcomes (sometimes called course goals) are a broad statement of what your students will be able to do once they've completed the course. You could call the learning outcome the 'moral of the story'. Your learning outcomes should be connected to the overall goals of the curriculum for your subject. When you clarify these larger ...

  17. Learning Objectives: How to Write, Types and Examples

    Improved assessment Having established learning objectives in place helps teachers create assessments which accurately evaluate student understanding of any given topic. Teachers can use learning objectives to create quizzes, tests, and other assessments to accurately evaluate student knowledge.

  18. Understanding Assignments

    Assignments often begin with an overview of the topic, include a central verb or verbs that describe the task, and offer some additional suggestions, questions, or prompts to get you started. An Overview of Some Kind

  19. How Do I Create Meaningful and Effective Assignments?

    If you are asking your students to complete a writing assignment, you should define for them the "rhetorical or cognitive mode/s" you want them to employ in their writing (Flaxman, 2005). In other words, use precise verbs that communicate whether you are asking them to analyze, argue, describe, inform, etc. (Verbs like "explore" or ...

  20. Assignment

    Ancient Times: Assignments such as writing exercises, recitations, and memorization tasks were used to reinforce learning. ... Meeting learning objectives: Assignments can be designed to help students meet specific learning objectives or outcomes. For example, a writing assignment may be designed to help students improve their writing skills ...

  21. Research Objectives

    Published on July 12, 2022 by Eoghan Ryan . Revised on November 20, 2023. Research objectives describe what your research is trying to achieve and explain why you are pursuing it. They summarize the approach and purpose of your project and help to focus your research.

  22. How to write an effective project objective, with examples

    Create an action plan template Project objectives are a critical element of project management —without them, you don't have a succinct way to communicate your goals before and during the project, nor do you have a measurable way to evaluate your success after the project ends.

  23. How to Write Effective Project Objectives Every Time

    by Jennifer Bridges | Jun 17, 2022 Table of Contents A project has a beginning and an end, but without an objective, it's a rudderless ship. In order to steer your project successfully and land in a safe harbor, you're going to have to define your project objectives. What Are Project Objectives?

  24. : IST 614: Assignment

    include: List objectives in expected chronological order of achievement. Don't confuse objectives (ends) with your methods (means). objective emphasizes what will be done and when it will be done, whereas a method will explain why or how it will be done. Use action verbs. of Miner & Griffith;

  25. How do I write this? My objectives are counting from 1 to 100 and

    My objectives are counting from 1 to 100 and identifying and counting numbers. The targeted teaching activities include number chart exploration, writing number practice, and counting. Assessments would be in worksheets.

  26. Opinion

    Ms. Kadish is the author of the novel "The Weight of Ink." "Write down a phrase you find abhorrent — something you yourself would never say." My students looked startled, but they ...